The hard work of preparing and serving breakfast to students at the Allen County Primary Center has earned the school’s food service employees statewide recognition. At the Monday (December 15) meeting of the Allen County Board of Education, the employees were recognized for the award.
“These ladies are the gold winner in the Kentucky School Breakfast Challenge,” explained Mary Hobdy, Food Services Director for Allen County Schools. “The cafeteria staff is recognized for increasing breakfast participation by 48 percent. These ladies prepare about 1,000 breakfasts every morning for the children at the Primary Center.”
The award is based on the cafeteria’s ability to prepare and distribute a no-cost breakfast to each student in the school as part of the school’s participation in the Community Eligibility Provision program. The cafeteria staff prepares “grab-and-go” breakfast bags which students pick up each morning as they head to their classrooms to begin their day.
The award was based on increased breakfast participation numbers from last year until this year.
“The September numbers from 2013 showed that we fed 8,997 breakfasts during the month,” Hobdy said. “In September of 2014, we served 20,022 breakfasts.”
The Kentucky School Breakfast Challenge Award, sponsored by the Southeast United Diary Industry Association along with the Kentucky Department of Education, also included a cash reward to be used by the staff.
“We have also received a check for $1,500 for the ladies to choose something that can be used to make their kitchen more efficient,” Hobdy added.
The cafeteria staff at the Allen County Primary Center includes cafeteria manager Robin Meador, Annette Ausbrooks, DarRita Carver, Scharline Carver, Sandy Fitzpatrick, Shenna Hopkins, Toni Kendall, Toni McGuire, Vanessa Petty, Dreama Pinson, Hope Rich and Serena Robinson. Robin Herrington is the school district food services program assistant and works closely with the staff.