Catching Up With the 2024 Fellows
September 05, 2024 | By
The 2024 Healthy School Food Pathway Fellows are bringing their learning to life through capstone projects that advance scratch cooking in their districts.
Blending up a Local Breakfast With Bryanna Ippolito - Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, MA
Bryanna shared, “The students of Acton-Boxborough are from many diverse backgrounds. In addition to their cultural diversity, the students also have a range of preferences when it comes to their dietary choices. I enjoy putting new recipes on the menu that appeal to the various tastes and dietary needs of the students.” With that in mind, her capstone project focuses on offering fresh, scratch-made breakfast items at their elementary sites. New blenders will allow them to highlight local Massachusetts Harvest of the Month produce in fresh breakfast smoothies.
Photo: Bryanna Ippolito and a team member show off their delicious new Berrylicious Smoothie at Acton-Boxborough Regional School District (photo credit: AB Food and Nutrition Services).
Blending up a Local Breakfast With Bryanna Ippolito - Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, MA
Bryanna shared, “The students of Acton-Boxborough are from many diverse backgrounds. In addition to their cultural diversity, the students also have a range of preferences when it comes to their dietary choices. I enjoy putting new recipes on the menu that appeal to the various tastes and dietary needs of the students.” With that in mind, her capstone project focuses on offering fresh, scratch-made breakfast items at their elementary sites. New blenders will allow them to highlight local Massachusetts Harvest of the Month produce in fresh breakfast smoothies.
Photo: Bryanna Ippolito and a team member show off their delicious new Berrylicious Smoothie at Acton-Boxborough Regional School District (photo credit: AB Food and Nutrition Services).
Growing from Garden to Lunch Tray With Beth Bailey - Humboldt County Office of Education’s Juvenile Hall, CA
Beth is getting hyper-local with her capstone: the Juvenile Hall Garden Project. A new, on-campus garden will allow students to gain hands-on experience with growing and harvesting food. But of course the goal isn’t just fun in the garden — it’s ensuring the freshest, most nutritious school meals for students. Thanks to new seasonal scratch recipes that Beth is developing, they will also get to taste and enjoy the produce from the garden in their meals.
Photo: Humboldt County’s Juvenile Hall kitchen offers a fresh salad everyday for lunch with garden grown lettuce (photo credit: Jason Beam).
Growing from Garden to Lunch Tray With Beth Bailey - Humboldt County Office of Education’s Juvenile Hall, CA
Beth is getting hyper-local with her capstone: the Juvenile Hall Garden Project. A new, on-campus garden will allow students to gain hands-on experience with growing and harvesting food. But of course the goal isn’t just fun in the garden — it’s ensuring the freshest, most nutritious school meals for students. Thanks to new seasonal scratch recipes that Beth is developing, they will also get to taste and enjoy the produce from the garden in their meals.
Photo: Humboldt County’s Juvenile Hall kitchen offers a fresh salad everyday for lunch with garden grown lettuce (photo credit: Jason Beam).
Incorporating Indigenous Ingredients With John Haley - Salamanca City Central School District, NY
Salamanca, New York, is the only U.S. city located entirely on a Native American Territory — that of the Seneca Nation of Indians (one of the six tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy). In close collaboration with the district’s Native American curriculum team, John’s capstone project will bring traditional Indigenous foods to his district’s cafeterias by rolling out new recipes using traditional ingredients like bison and nixtamalized corn, as well as providing staff with training on the traditional preparations and significance of the ingredients.
Photo: John Haley participates in staff training on the traditional preparation of Seneca cornbread at Salamanca City Central School District (photo credit: Levi Sponeybarger).
Incorporating Indigenous Ingredients With John Haley - Salamanca City Central School District, NY
Salamanca, New York, is the only U.S. city located entirely on a Native American Territory — that of the Seneca Nation of Indians (one of the six tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy). In close collaboration with the district’s Native American curriculum team, John’s capstone project will bring traditional Indigenous foods to his district’s cafeterias by rolling out new recipes using traditional ingredients like bison and nixtamalized corn, as well as providing staff with training on the traditional preparations and significance of the ingredients.
Photo: John Haley participates in staff training on the traditional preparation of Seneca cornbread at Salamanca City Central School District (photo credit: Levi Sponeybarger).
Promoting the Transition to Scratch Cooking With Chelsey Bennett - Monona Grove School District, WI
Chelsey’s capstone project leverages technology to promote new scratch recipes. She has targeted several existing processed items like French toast sticks and packaged burritos for replacement with scratch items like French Toast Casserole and hand-rolled Burritos. New digital menu boards will promote the scratch items and generate student excitement for the changes taking place in the kitchen.
Photo: A test run of the new French Toast Bake at Monona Grove School District (photo credit: Chelsey Bennett).
Promoting the Transition to Scratch Cooking With Chelsey Bennett - Monona Grove School District, WI
Chelsey’s capstone project leverages technology to promote new scratch recipes. She has targeted several existing processed items like French toast sticks and packaged burritos for replacement with scratch items like French Toast Casserole and hand-rolled Burritos. New digital menu boards will promote the scratch items and generate student excitement for the changes taking place in the kitchen.
Photo: A test run of the new French Toast Bake at Monona Grove School District (photo credit: Chelsey Bennett).
Equipment for Innovative Scratch Cooking With Randy Rios - Lodi Unified School District, CA
Taking inspiration from student demand for exciting, delicious lunches, Randy’s project uses a new piece of equipment to enable his district to serve an unconventional school menu item: sushi! A new sushi rolling machine and rice cooker will allow him to serve sushi rolls using the bounty of local products available in California. This culinary-focused project is no surprise, given Randy’s background. He explained his career in school food saying, “after working in the restaurant industry for almost 20 years I decided to switch over to school food, and I just fell in love with it.”
Photo: Randy Rios tests out Lodi Unified School District’s new sushi machine (photo credit: David Loi).
Equipment for Innovative Scratch Cooking With Randy Rios - Lodi Unified School District, CA
Taking inspiration from student demand for exciting, delicious lunches, Randy’s project uses a new piece of equipment to enable his district to serve an unconventional school menu item: sushi! A new sushi rolling machine and rice cooker will allow him to serve sushi rolls using the bounty of local products available in California. This culinary-focused project is no surprise, given Randy’s background. He explained his career in school food saying, “after working in the restaurant industry for almost 20 years I decided to switch over to school food, and I just fell in love with it.”
Photo: Randy Rios tests out Lodi Unified School District’s new sushi machine (photo credit: David Loi).
