Welcoming the Fifth Cohort of Get Schools Cooking

We are delighted to kick off the fifth cohort of Get Schools Cooking (GSC) with seven new school districts from across the country. This February, the Get Schools Cooking partner teams and the food service directors from each cohort district gathered for a three-day workshop in beautiful Bellingham, Washington. Patrick Durgan, food service director at Bellingham Public Schools, a Get Schools Cooking Cohort 1 district participant, welcomed Cohort 5 to share about his district’s operational evolution, experiences participating in the GSC program, and current implementation of scratch cooking in school kitchens and the district central kitchen.

Get Schools Cooking is the Chef Ann Foundation’s most intensive and holistic school food transformation program. The three-year grant includes an onsite assessment, a comprehensive report of recommendations, strategic planning support, technical assistance, networking opportunities, and the opportunity to receive systems assistance funding. You can read more about program details here.

In collaboration with our generous program funding partners at the Whole Kids Foundation, the Rachael Ray Foundation, and an Anonymous Funder, we look forward to working with the following school districts on improving their school food programs.

District Participants

Brownsville Independent School District (BISD) is the largest district to ever participate in the Get Schools Cooking Program. The impact that the BISD food service program has on their Rio Grande Valley community cannot be overstated. The district has high participation and hopes to identify areas of improvement and increase food quality for their students and families through the Get Schools Cooking program.

“The Chef Ann Foundation inarguably provides a solution to our calling, purpose, and desired outcome of creating school food change. Moreover, it supports and demonstrates strategies that [will] help us increase healthy food selection and consumption, thereby improving students’ dietary choices.” - Jackie Cruz, Food & Nutrition Services Director

Dillingham City School District is the smallest district to ever participate in the Get Schools Cooking Program. The remote location and massive landscapes present specific challenges and benefits to transitioning to a scratch cook school food service program. The department hopes to increase variety in their menu selection and believes that Get Schools Cooking can help support their staff to create a positive change in their program.

“The redundancy of the menu and service has created an atmosphere within the kitchen [that] we would like to shift. The district hopes to support food service staff by providing experts to assist in the review of all processes and evaluate for possible change. We understand that not only the nutritional value of provided food but also the quality to entice children to eat are critical for the success of our student body. This directly aligns with the work that Chef Ann Foundation champions.” - Kaitlin Applegate, Grant Administrator

Ellensburg School District has taken positive steps over the last year to increase the food quality and sustainability of their program by increasing local purchasing and switching to reusable trays in the lunchrooms. Their goal is to take the school food program to the next level by providing more farm to table meals to the students and transition the perception of school food from institutional to inspirational.

“I want students to fall in love with new foods and understand the relationship between the source of their food, the people cooking it, and themselves. I hope to someday see universal free meals in our country (or at least WA state) and I want to be ready for that with a dynamic and valuable program. Access to good food is a basic human right and I chose this career to advocate for that specifically in our younger generations. We believe the Chef Ann Foundation can help take us to that level.” - Alexandra Epstein-Solfield, Child Nutrition Director

Hardin School District has a well-developed farm to school program with successes in curriculum integration and local purchasing. They incorporate student feedback into their menus and uplift voices in their indigenous communities. They look forward to partnering with the Chef Ann Foundation in creating a culture of health across their district and community.

“Our program is excited by this chance to make the transition to fresh, real food in a sustainable way. Rather than programs in jeopardy with leadership changes and high turnover, the Get Schools Cooking program allows our community to make lasting, self-sustaining changes.” - Elle Ross, Farm to School Director

Over the past five years, the food service department at Howard-Suamico School District has focused on adding to and developing the culinary talent on their teams, increasing farm to school programming, and developing new recipes. They have already incorporated a considerable amount of scratch cooking and look forward to working with the Chef Ann Foundation to hone their strategy for the years to come.

“Not only is this allowing us to flip our flow in the way that we as leaders are in the districts, but it also is perfect timing to come out of covid and be able to look at the bigger picture. That bigger picture is what’s best for kids, and scratch [cooking] is a part of that process.” - Laura Rowell, Director of School Nutrition

Lewiston Public Schools has made great strides in professional development for their kitchen staff. Culturally inclusive meals are of particular importance for the Lewiston community as a large African immigrant population coexists with traditional New England populations. They look forward to working with the Chef Ann Foundation to learn ways of engaging their communities, marketing their program, and sharing knowledge with surrounding districts.

“I needed this. I needed to be with a bunch of like minded people. I get caught in the weeds. You hear no’s, you hear barriers… so to hear this opportunity, to break that all down, I can go back and really get my team engaged.” - Alisa Roman, Nutrition and Transportation Director

The Windham Central Supervisory Union food service team brings openness and creativity to scratch cooking. In recent years, they have shifted to more local, seasonal, and wholesome meals, particularly at the secondary level. They are excited to bring more structure and planning to their program and thus increase capacity for more scratch cooking in every school.

“As a relatively tiny, rural district, we face unique challenges in supplying high quality meals. Working with the Chef Ann Foundation, we will be able to build the infrastructure needed to provide training and give the guidance needed to improve procurement choices and scratch cooking.” - Jacob Gallogly, Food Service Director

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These seven districts are joining a group of dedicated and passionate school districts leading the way in school food change. Previous cohorts have shown successes including salad bar implementation, removing chocolate milk and chicken nuggets from their serving lines, and increasing local purchasing. The Get Schools Cooking program is an initiative that takes school districts all the way, supporting them in bringing delicious and nutritious food to students. Learn more about the Get Schools Cooking program, and sign up to receive program updates (like the next open application).