Member Spotlight: 

Deborah S. Beauvais, RD, CDN, SNS

Debbi is currently the District Supervisor of Food Service for the Gates Chili Schools and the East Rochester Union Free School District in New York. She’s worked for the district for 10 years and is very proud of the great team of school meals staff. Her responsibilities include overseeing the Food and Nutrition programs with a managed volume of $2.5 million across 10 sites. The programs serve a daily average of 3300 lunches and 800 breakfasts with just under 5000 students at Gates Chili and approximately 1100 students at East Rochester UFSD. Her course towards school nutrition was decided early in her career, even before Debbi knew that this was her calling. She desired to have a career in clinical dietetics; even applying to the Clinical Nutrition Masters Program at Massachusetts General as her first choice for dietetic internships. But when she didn’t get accepted into the program, it seemed she was well on her way towards impacting child nutrition!
Debbi is a 1977 graduate from IroquoisCentral in Elma, NY. She has her Bachelors of Science  egree from the University of Dayton and completed a dietetic internship at St. Louis University Hospital. Her career began in healthcare food service management with Saga Corporation at St. Louis University hospital as the Food Service Manager. She worked in this arena for almost 15 years holding positions in Connecticut and in her home state of New York before moving into school nutrition. When asked what she likes most about her job it’s no surprise to hear her say “the smiles from the kids as they enjoy the variety of nourishing foods our programs have to offer.” According to Debbi, the “job” is about the people: students, staff and parents whose lives are touched daily. And if you like kids, well, her districts are the places to be. Her job is also about getting things done. While in the middle of a capital project at Gates Chili High School she was faced with dirt floors in the kitchen and only one week until the opening of school. Using a variety of refrigerated, freezer and storage trailers as well as a mobile kitchen her team was able to sustain a full service meals programs serving nearly 1000 lunches and 200 breakfast meals daily, all from the school parking lot! “Neither rain nor sleet nor snow…” Prevented us from feeding our kids” was the motto that year.  Debbi has been a member of the SNS DPG for almost 10 years, and is very active in the School Nutrition Association both in NY State and nationally. She believes networking is a huge part of career success and enjoys these groups for the many individuals that have great ideas and the ability to share these ideas and learn from one another. When Debbi isn’t setting up temporary production facilities and networking with peers in the field of school nutrition, she is busy with her husband Stephen and her two teenage boys, Timothy (16) and Jeffrey (14). Both boys are avid soccer players and both play goalie! It will be no surprise to hear that she is an active “Soccer Mom” volunteering in various soccer and athletic booster clubs as well as school parent  rganizations. What an extraordinary wife, mother and school nutrition professional!

Member Spotlight: Barbara Storper, MS, RD
Making Good Eating Great Fun!

Little did Barbara know twenty-five years ago when she put on her first FOODPLAY performance for an inner city school in Brooklyn, that this live nutrition theater show would turn her into an Emmy Award-winning nutritionist, allow her to travel and perform in schools from New York to Alaska, and reach up to three million school children with a special brand of nutrition education theater!

FOODPLAY, the brainchild of Storper, is a research-based, national touring theater show which features colorful characters and health messages, music, magic, juggling and audience participation to turn kids on to healthy eating and exercise habits.

While Storper was earning her Masters Degree in Nutrition from Columbia University Teachers’ College, she was asked by the New York City Board of Education Department of School Food Services to present a lecture on nutrition to an inner city school.  She knew nutrition could be more fun than how she learned it in elementary school with the four food groups.  Barbara combined a journalism and media background with her love of theater arts to create an approach that was visual and interactive.

The show toured throughout the city’s schools, and the foodservice staff at each school introduced the program.  With several troupes on the road, the show now reaches over 1000 students per day,

According to a USDA-sponsored evaluation of 1200 fourth graders, FOODPLAY was shown to improve student knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding nutrition and physical activity.  Over 75% of students reported improving their eating and exercise habits, increasing their intake of fruits and vegetables, eating breakfast at home or at school more often, reading food labels, decreasing consumption of soda and foods high in sugar and fat, and understanding how to balance their diets with regular exercise.

A common reaction from foodservice staffs was that following the production, students drink more lowfat milk and chose healthier options, as well as, brought healthier snacks and lunches from home.

When Barbara turned FOODPLAY into a TV special, it received an Emmy Award for “Best Child and Youth TV Special” thanks to sponsorship by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation.  Barbara has been recognized by the American Dietetic  Association and the Society for Nutrition Education with their “Outstanding Young Nutrition Educator in the Country Award”, “Best Public Health Program in the Country Award” and “Media Partnership Award.”  This fall, Barbara was honored by Columbia University Teachers’ College with its “Distinguished Alumni Award” for her work promoting nutrition to the nation’s children.

For the last decade, Barbara no longer performs in the shows, but instead trains professional actors, freeing up some of her time to create additional programs and resources, as well as, speak at professional conferences.  This year she purchased a building and named it “The Onion Barn” in Hatfield, Massachusetts, which houses staff offices, rehearsal space, and an apartment for her touring performers.

This year, Barbara is producing and touring a new show “Lil’ Red Riding’ thru’ da Hood” featuring hip hop music, dance and audience participation to help urban youth improve their eating and exercise habits.  The show, written by Caree Jackson, a nutrition PhD student at the University of Georgia,  will be presented at 165 schools in Philadelphia, thanks to the Food Stamp Outreach Program.

Barbara can be reached at www.foodplay.com

Member Spotlight:  Marilyn McSpiritt, M.S., R.D., CDE

Innovation and hard work are the hallmarks of Marilyn McSpirit’s leadership of the Roxbury Township Board of Education School Nutrition Program in New Jersey.  One of Marilyn’s proudest achievements was early implementation of the School Nutrition Program’s webpage. It was designed to provide nutrition information to the students, parents and the community in a fun way. Replacing the previous handout that was sent home with the menus, it became an excellent venue for sending the message that nutrition plays a pivotal role in health. Despite the fact that it took several months to design, Marilyn feels the final product was worth the extra effort. The favorite spot on the website is the menu page, even though parents still receive a hard copy monthly. The website has also been used effectively to keep the public informed of the wellness policy development process. Marilyn has just been certified in childhood and adolescent weight management, and some of that knowledge will be shared as well. Parents and others use the website to communicate directly with Marilyn to answer questions and share opinions. Roxbury has 4500 students and includes eight campuses with 29 employees and one administrative secretary, Terry Chirdo, whom Marilyn credits with being key to the department’s success. All the cook/managers are certified by the School Nutrition Association. One of their innovations was the “lunch munchers”, their answer to Lunchables. On the days these are served, there is almost 100% participation. Marilyn also consults for the Berkeley Heights Board of Education, her former employer. She was working in a clinical setting when she responded to a newspaper employment ad for a School Food Service Director position in Berkeley Heights. She submitted her resume “and never looked back.” She’s the proud mother of five children, having juggled child rearing with returning to school and completing an internship.

Member Spotlight:  Nancy Z. Farrell, R.D.
School System Wellness Dietitian

You could say it all began because her oldest daughter was a figure skater.  In spring of 2000, Nancy Farrell found herself at a local ice skating rink.  While enjoying the rink anniversary celebration, she approached the supermarket manager who had supplied food for the event.  She saw an opportunity and inquired about the possibility of conducting supermarket labeling tours at his store.  As fortune had it, he was very interested, and  Nancy soon found herself working as a Dietitian in the Supermarket industry.

Soon after her employment, Nancy was contacted by the local school division and asked to volunteer her services as nutrition advisor for the Spotsylvania County Schools Health Advisory Board in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and did so for four years.  In recognizing the increase in student nutrition related health concerns, by spring of 2004 Nancy had solicited grant funding from the local Mary Washington Hospital Foundation.  This position as a part-time school health services registered dietitian would coordinate efforts for a nutrition wellness pilot program in the school system. At the end of June 2004 the WIC Reauthorization law was enacted and by summer 2005, the grant request was approved for the ’05-’06 school year.

The pilot program was named Healthy Bodies through Educated Minds. Next Nancy had to consider what her title would be.  “While I am obviously an educator of nutrition, I chose my title of Wellness Dietitian to highlight my wellness role in the schools – especially as it relates to the federal policy and to put the spotlight on my profession as a Registered Dietitian.”

Many exciting events happened during that first school year as nutrition educator for students, parents and staff. Her division was able to determine best practices as they simultaneously worked on drafting their local school wellness policy. Subsequently, for this year, a grant extension was submitted and approved by the hospital foundation so that wellness initiatives could be continued for the ’06-’07 school year. In addition, the SCS School Board approved a recommendation by school administration officials that the position of Wellness Dietitian become full-time, and added it as a line item with additional funds on the school budget. Nancy has also since been asked to serve as the school Wellness Coordinator.

One of the first tasks she performed was to devise a team of local dietitians to sit down together at the table to develop Spotsylvania County Schools (SCS) nutrition criteria for a la carte and vended snacks and beverages.  This criteria has since also been utilized when addressing fundraising, concession sales, and classroom celebrations in the local wellness policy. Food items are to contain no more than 200 calories per serving.

The SCS school division embraced a holistic approach in their wellness policy and plan to incorporate mental health in the near future. In addressing body mass index (BMI), Nancy collaborated with the local community college nursing students and the school nurses to measure and record BMI as well as blood pressure on 850 students. Participating secondary level students were also given the opportunity to have lipid profiles performed. Results were dramatic and showed the need for nutrition education and exercise performance.  Nancy indicates that this upcoming school year, 1100 students from the division’s 29 schools will be randomly selected for the same opportunity and then tracked for five years.

The “train the trainer” approach has been used to introduce nutrition education into the classroom. Nancy can be found presenting teachers with ideas for their lesson plans or visiting students in class to supplement and reinforce the work of teachers.

To stay in touch at the most basic of levels, one-on-one nutrition counseling services are offered to those families and staff that need and request special attention.

Nancy knows that involving parents is key. One way she assists parents is by providing a supermarket labeling class with tours at the store where she began her journey a few years ago.  The supermarket manager that she met so long ago recognizes the importance of childhood health and welcomes her back into the store for these group engagements.

Physical activity is vital to the wellness equation, as well. Spotsylvania County Schools developed Family Fitness and Fun nights at the local YMCA where parents and kids could occasionally be seen enjoying kickboxing and dance classes.

Three schools in SCS participated in very successful Action For Healthy Kids Game On! events this fall. A variety of activities allowed parents and children the opportunity to learn health and nutrition concepts while participating in fun physical activities in the gym, such as Energy In/Energy Out tag.  Some events found parents and children playing Food Bingo where jumping jacks and push-ups were required for those “fun” foods. Smart Board Technology was used as children had to learn how to devise healthy meals. Finally, the Food Service mascot was present to hand out water to thirsty attendees.

The Live-It pedometer program has been offered in all elementary and middle schools as students have the opportunity to monitor steps taken both individually and as a class.

One last physical activity measure soon to be piloted in SCS is a program entitled, Learning in Motion.  This program was developed by Dr. Vonnie Colvin at Longwood University for elementary classroom teachers to incorporate movement that requires little equipment into the instruction of the Virginia Standards of Learning in Math, English and Science classes. The purpose is to assist teachers during class time by reinforcing activities in a creative way.

But Nancy didn’t stop there. Community outreach was calling, too. A nutrition website was developed (www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us/nutrition) to enable families to access school nutrition information. Interviews for school, local and a national newspaper have occurred, and Nancy has found herself as a regular on a local news talk radio station where she promotes nutrition.

But the students needed to be involved.  So, using a take-off idea of the dairy association milk moustache posters, Nancy coordinated to have students, and school personnel such as principals, teachers, librarians, nurses, and guidance directors photographed while eating healthy foods.  These photos were enlarged to poster size and have been displayed in several schools. “The students needed to see familiar faces in the healthy eating posters…mentors and peers leading by example. To me, that was the key of this initiative.”

In addition, the division’s media information office and media instructional teacher were contacted to help produce Healthy, Tasty and Fun video presentations that were written by Nancy. Again, students and school faculty and staff participated in these videos that were filmed and edited by the 12th grade film and media students and aired in school and on the local cable community channel six times a day during March, National Nutrition Month. “The beauty of this program is that not only are students in front of the camera, but they are behind it as well.” Nancy won the Virginia State Dietetic Association award for most creative way to celebrate NNM in 2006.

With the division’s comprehensive wellness policy, Nancy can be found developing materials or answering questions to help clarify the regulations on fundraising, classroom celebrations, or the use of foods as re-enforcers or in lesson plans.

Recently, SCS was awarded a mini grant from Virginia Action For Healthy Kids to offer twelve elementary classrooms the opportunity to go “food reward free” for the school year.  Many teachers and parents were thrilled to be able to have non-food rewards, courtesy of the grant, for the children in their classroom.

The first Wellness Policy Committee (WPC) meeting has occurred with representatives from various backgrounds and including school administrators, teachers, parents, students, medical professionals, and community members. Developing measurement and evaluation tools are now a priority for this group. It should be noted that SCS took a varied approach in having their WPC serve as separate and distinct from the School Health Advisory Board, yet responsible to the school Health Services Director.

Nancy has since been asked to submit information to Alliance for a Healthier Generation as a school success story, and to serve on a Quality, Transparency and Prevention Workgroup for Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s Healthcare Reform Commission.

And so you see, it started with a simple greeting a few years ago. Nancy’s advice to others is just as simple. “Don’t lock career doors, as you never know when the time will be right to seize an opportunity, or when an unexpected opportunity will arise on its own.”

Nancy is a graduate of The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Dietetic Internship.  She has been a member of the American Dietetic Association since 1983. She may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Member Spotlight:  Cindy Hormel, MM, RD, LD, SNS

Cindy Hormel is the Director of School Food Service for the Liberty Public School District located in Liberty, Missouri. She is responsible for over 14 school sites and 12,000 meals a day. Her responsibilities include the overall management of the food service department with the primary goal of providing affordable, nutritionally-sound meals for the students of the district.

Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics and Institutional Management from Kansas State University and a Masters in Management and Finance from the University of Phoenix. Cindy has worked in her current position with the Liberty School district for over 20 years.
When asked about what she likes most about her job Cindy responded, “Every day is different and provides many challenges and a diversity of opportunities.” She feels her job is unique because it allows her the opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of children by creating a healthy school environment that continues the education process into the cafeteria.

Through the years, Cindy has spearheaded many positive changes for the Liberty School Food Service program that have earned national recognition. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors and most recently was honored by her peers with the National FAME Award for Food Service Achievement in Management Excellence during the 2007 Child Nutrition Industry Conference which was held in Tuscon, AZ. Most recently, under her leadership, the program in Liberty earned the District of Excellence Award from the National School Nutrition Association; the first for the State of Missouri.

Her achievements and passion do not stay confined to her work life. Outside of work, Cindy volunteers with many local organizations throughout the community and truly believes in “giving back” to her community and assisting those in need. In her “free time,” she enjoys running and just recently completed her third half marathon! When she isn’t rowing with the KC Rowing Team, scuba diving, sky diving, or mountain climbing, she’s at home with her family (her true joy) and trying to keep up with two very active young men.

Cindy has been a member of the SNS DPG for 6 years and really enjoys the camaraderie, the networking and the on-line training opportunities aimed at “sharpening your skills.” She values the opportunity SNS provides in networking with a diverse group of individuals. She also likes that the group seeks out creative ideas from their members and provides the potential for members to look outside the traditional roles of the profession and seek new opportunities.

As if her passion for children, zest for life and “giving back” aren’t enough, she is one of 7 children and free fell 7,500 feet in 42 seconds...WOW! What an unbelievable individual!

Member Spotlight:  Danielle Marta, MBA, RD, CHE

Danielle Marta is a marketing manager at Campbell Soup Company.  She is responsible for developing and executing strategic plans for the shelf-stable soups in the Away from Home division.  Danielle’s position also includes detailing product programming for schools and healthcare.  One of Danielle’s favorite aspects of her job is that she is able to participate in the yearly business planning.  She finds it empowering to present as a category expert and influence Campbell’s business plan for the coming year.

School nutrition became an interest of Danielle’s during her internship program in Augusta, Georgia.  She started her career in healthcare foodservice but after earning her MBA from Loyola College, she moved into corporate foodservice marketing with a focus on program development for schools and healthcare.

In her current position at Campbell Soup Company, Danielle works closely with school districts to ensure product formulations meet the needs of school foodservice professionals, students, and parents.  She feels it is important to be proactive with industry trends, particularly in the area of childhood obesity.  Danielle played an important role in Campbell’s becoming a founding member of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.   The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation.  The partnership established guidelines for competitive foods sold in schools to ensure children can make healthier food choices during the school day.

A unique aspect of Danielle’s job is that she is able to incorporate nutrition into any project that she chooses.  While her main focus is that of a business manager, Danielle frequently plans fruit and vegetable promotions with schools and as part of new product development.  Each year, nutrition and physical activity themed promotions are created for school foodservice, which also includes prizes for students.

Danielle has been a member of the School Nutrition Services DPG for approximately five years.  She enjoys the professional development and networking opportunities offered through membership.  She also likes keeping current on trends and legislation related to school nutrition.

Danielle lives in Florence, New Jersey with her husband, Greg, their 11-month old daughter, Violet, and their very active Vizsla, Hunter.   Danielle has an adventurous side, and even won a jalapeño eating contest a few years back!  In her spare, Danielle enjoys tending to her “pizza garden” which includes fresh basil, oregano, tomatoes, and peppers.

Danielle can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Member Spotlight: Dawn Menz, MS, RD, SNS

Brevard County School District (central east cost of Florida) is fortunate to have Dawn Menz as their District Food and Nutrition Manager. Credentialed as a School Nutrition Specialist (SNS) by the School Nutrition Association, Dawn has worked with the Brevard County School Board for eight years and is a major asset to this District which serves over five million student lunches each year. Under her leadership, the Food and Nutrition Services Department enjoys a lunch participation rate of 81 percent even though only 31 percent are defined as economically needy. Her dedication to providing healthy and nutritious meals to the students she serves continues to open doors for district-wide change.

As District Food and Nutrition Manager, Dawn directs all aspects of meal planning, including preparation and service, as well as, ongoing menu development and recipe modification. She is also responsible for food purchasing, processing, distribution and coordinating with vendors for product testing and food bids.

Furthermore, Dawn acts as the District’s primary source of nutrition related information and therefore serves as the liaison between the School Board, cafeteria managers, teachers and the general public. Nevertheless, despite her demanding job responsibilities, Dawn reserves time to educate the students on the importance of good nutrition in fun and unique ways. For instance, she conducts puppet shows, dresses up as “Merry the Moo Cow” or sings catchy songs all with nutrition related messages.

Dawn’s nutrition expertise is supported by her exemplary service record both professionally and personally. She currently serves as the Nutrition Chairman for Brevard County’s School Health Advisory Council and the Brevard School Food Service Association. Additionally, she has served on the Florida Food and Nutrition Advisory Council (2000 – 2006) and has acted as the Nutrition Standards and Nutrition Education Chairman for the Florida School Nutrition Association (2004 – 2006). She and her husband, who were recently married on December 31, 2005, are also very active in their church and have recently started serving in the Children’s Ministry as small group leaders for kindergartners, which she lovingly says is a challenge.

Because Dawn’s passion is making healthy meals available to the children in her District, she credits her success to the School Nutrition Services Dietetic Practice Group for providing nutrition information that is on the forefront of the industry. As a member for eight years, she states the information has been instrumental in making changes for the students of Brevard County. Some of these changes include: modifying all recipes for baked goods to reduce calories and fat, eliminating fried foods, 10 milk vending machines supplied through a Dairy Council grant  encourages drinking low fat milks and replacing regular chips with baked chips for a la carte sales only among others.

When Dawn is not blazing the nutrition trail for change, she enjoys traveling, reading and outdoor activities like camping and hiking.

Member Spotlight:  Patricia K. Luoto, EdD, RD, LDN
Professor, Food and Nutrition
Director, John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition
Consumer Sciences Department
Framingham State College
Framingham, MA

Pat has been a member of our DPG for over 20 years. She is married to George, a high school principal, and has 2 adult sons.  Her oldest son, Kristopher, is married to a long awaited daughter (in-law) who has made her a new Gramma! Her 5 month old grandson, Drew, brings such joy to her life. Her younger son, Todd, lives in Los Angeles and works in the film industry. He makes the adage “walking to the beat of a different drum” a reality! Pat’s latest hobby is just delighting in her grandson and watching him learn new things each day. She says, “It makes you appreciate what is normally taken for granted.” Since work calms down a bit over the summer, she loves to work in her garden, growing vegetables, herbs, and a few flowers. Believe it or not, she says that weeding is such therapy for her. She loves to see a manicured garden, the results of her hard labor. Even better is cooking what she has grown. When that is done she still finds time to read, especially novels. A little known fact is that Pat writes poems, for special occasions, for her family and friends. As Director of the John C. Stalker Institute (JSI), Pat administers the training institute, a partnership of the Massachusetts Department of Education, Nutrition, Health, and Safety and the Department of Consumer Sciences, Food and Nutrition at Framingham State College, Framingham, MA (www.johnstalkerinstitute.org). The mission of JSI is to provide training and educational programming for school food programs to improve the school nutrition environment in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Programs in nutrition education, management, culinary, and technology are provided to school food program directors, managers, and line employees. In addition both workshops and online courses in nutrition education are offered to teachers, school nurses, and other school staff. Last year JSI provided educational programming to about 900 people.

Pat teaches courses in foodservice systems management for their Food and Nutrition majors. In addition, she is a Clinical Instructor for the management rotation for the Coordinated Program in Dietetics. She also teaches online courses in instructional technology in nutrition for their master’s degree program. One of the things she likes most about her job is that it is an exciting combination of teaching and administration. The John Stalker Institute is a vibrant example of a state agency and college combining efforts to provide educational programming to impact schools and children throughout the state. She has the unique opportunity to design projects and educational programming for all levels of school food program staff and employees and teachers, nurses, and other school staff in accordance with perceived need to improve the school nutrition environment. In many instances she is able to integrate classroom projects with JSI programming. Since most Food and Nutrition majors want to become clinical dietitians she works very hard to open their eyes to the career opportunities in foodservice management (not always successfully!), especially in school food programs. She thinks directors of school food programs utilize such a variety of skill sets: foodservice systems, nutrition/nutrition education, human resource management, financial management, marketing, and
communication, public relations skills – the list goes on and on. An ongoing project is the A-List of approved snack and vending products which meet the Massachusetts A La Carte Food & Beverage Standards to Promote a Healthier School Environment (Massachusetts Standards) created by Mass Action for Healthy Kids. This project first began in her Foodservice Systems course where students evaluated snack and vending products in accordance with nutrition standards. Initially there were only about 30 acceptable products; the list has now grown to over 800 products to which directors refer when making purchasing decisions(http://www.johnstalkerinstitute.org/vending%20project/
healthysnacks.htm).

Recently they created an online resource used to design, implement, and share wellness policies
(www.johnstalkerinstitute.org/wellness). They just graduated their second class of directors and senior
staff in the Certificate in Excellence in Child Nutrition, a 5 course (undergraduate) certificate program offered through the Division of Graduate and Continuing Education at Framingham State College. These courses were offered via teleconferencing to 4 locations across the state. Over 30 directors and senior staff have completed this program, fulfilling a long time dream of hers to provide a means to increase the level of professionalism of directors. Her latest initiative is the creation of NEW LIFE (Nutrition, Education, Wellness: Leadership Institute for Excellence), designed to enhance directors’ leadership skills necessary to advance wellness programs and other new regulations and continue to raise the bar on improving the school nutrition environment. NEW LIFE meets bi-monthly in day long workshops with speakers focusing on both nutrition and leadership skills; in between the face to face workshops, discussion continues online using Blackboard, a course management system.

Member Spotlight: Susan Niemczyk , M.A., R.D., L.D.N

Sue Niemczyk is Vice President of Operations for Sodexho School Services. She is  responsible for developing business, promoting client relations, executing strategic plans and business plans for the Midwest. She says the best part of her job is visiting elementary schools and having the chance to interact with the kids as they eat lunch, and also visiting with the “lunch ladies” at every school that she visits.

School nutrition was her initial career focus as a dietetic intern with the Milwaukee Public Schools, and she subsequently held positions as Food Service Director at school districts in Wisconsin and New York.  A desire to learn more from a business standpoint led her to work with a contract management company, and acquire a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology.

Many years (and several company acquisitions, mergers and subsequent corporate name changes) later, she found herself back in the school nutrition arena, and now at a very exciting time to be an RD! The childhood obesity issue has brought school districts and community members together in debate over school Wellness (or lack thereof) Programs.  Food Service Directors have the opportunity to focus school administrator’s priorities on nutrition in addition to program solvency.

Sue has been a force behind the development of her division’s nutrition education resources for school faculty, students, and for parents and community members. She has been an advocate for developing programs that train Sodexho’s school nutrition program staff in nutrition and obesity issues so that they can in turn coach students on how to choose nutritious meals. Because of her dietetic background, she says she tends to look at potential marketing materials and programs with the critical eye of a nutrition expert who is also a Mom.  One great program that Sodexho launched was the coordination of regional chefs with division dietitians who together developed recipes for use in school districts served by the company. “It was great fun to see them working side by side in the kitchen together”, she says, “usually these two professions come from opposite sides of the fence when it comes to developing menu items”!

KidsFest Chicago, an event produced by the Illinois Nutrition Education and Training Program  (Illinois N.E.T.), and sponsored in part by Sodexho, is another great event that Sue has been involved with since its inception. Over fifty exhibitors, main stage entertainment (read interactive games and dancing), Culinary Stage and Activity Stage events keep several thousand children and their families enthused. The Wellness message is delivered in a fun and motivating way specifically to the school age child, and everyone involved has a great time.

One wish for the future of school food service is that Directors employed by management companies and those employed directly by school districts come together to realize that the goal is the same for both – to feed and educate the children of our country in a healthy way – because they are the real future for all of us. “For all of my career (both as an independent Director, and one who works for “the company”) I have listened to both sides on that issue. It reminds me of the ‘Mommy wars’” !

Sue has been a member of the School Nutrition Services DPG for several years, and enjoys reading the legislative updates as well as keeping up on the careers of her colleagues.

Sue lives outside of Chicago with her husband, Alan (also a “foodie” – and a very much appreciated sounding board). The parents of three, they are now empty nesters, except for their big black dog who demands all of their attention when at home – and usually gets it!

Mary Beth Golangco Ratzloff, MS, RD, LD

Mary Beth Golangco Ratzloff is the Director of Child Nutrition Services for the Hurst-Euless-Bedford I.S.D. located in Bedford, Texas. Her current job responsibilities have her directing, managing and supervising the Child Nutrition Program for 27 schools with enrollment of 20,000 children.

Mary Beth has been in school food service for 25 years, which include 6 years at the Regional Service Center in Fort Worth, Texas. She likes the diversity and the ever-changing environment of school food service, and enjoys being surrounded by people who are passionate about what they do. What she likes most about being a director in school food service are the people, diversity, and challenges she faces everyday. But the greatest reward is the opportunity she gets in making a difference in a child’s life everyday.

She has been a member of the School Nutrition Services DPG. She chose SNS DPG because of the cross-communication for school nutrition and the networking opportunities. What Mary Beth likes most about the DPG are the exchange of ideas and information from across the country, and a great newsletter that is full of current, up-to-date information that is succinct, friendly, and easy to read and understand. All of these attributes and value-added benefits help her provide the best possible service to her customers – the students.

Outside of her professional role as a school food service director, Mary Beth is a wife and mother of 2 beautiful children. Her family and friends are very important to her and she enjoys every single minute she spends with them. She finds the Wii a very entertaining ‘toy’ and occupies her windshield time during ‘red’ lights by playing “Text Twist.” She also enjoys tennis and is hoping to become a golfer soon. Interestingly enough, Mary Beth does not enjoy malls and shopping is not a favorite past time of hers. However, she does enjoy a good round of Karaoke and relishes Saturdays when she can sleep in. 

Thanks so very much to Mary Beth Golangco Ratzloff for sharing her passions in school food service!