- Student Choice Rotation: Portland Public Schools
Location: Portland Public Schools
I liked my rotation here the first time, so I decided to return for a longer stay, and to experience a different time of year. Although there has been changes made to the National school lunch and breakfast program, I was able to pick up right where I left off...
My first week back here I was able to work on several different projects, and be involved in various meetings. One of the projects I helped on was sorting through submissions for the annual calendar contest. Students submitted their drawings for the various fruits and vegetables that are showcased in the calendar, and I helped to sort through and post these submissions for a vote on the top six submissions for each fruit/veggie. I also was able to help write up "calender health blurbs". The theme I was following was the five categories of vegetables. I wrote out what veggies are included in each category, and the importance of including them in the weekly diet. The meetings I was included in were vendor meetings (talking about decreasing the size of the pizzas, finding a new vendor for canned peaches), and employee assessments.
The second week here I continued to go with Whitney to the school sites to conduct employee assessments. It had been nice to be able to visit more schools this time around, and meet more of the food service employees. I also was able to visit my first PPS high school to observe how one of the employees made and served the enchiladas. This has been one of the menu items that will have to be re-evaluated to meet the new USDA recommendations. I was able to look through the current middle school and high school menus to calculate the bread/grain and the meat/meat alternate amounts of each meal. We then looked to see how these items could be reorganized to fulfill the new USDA guidelines. I also took the financial information, such as cost per meal equivalent, for the K-5, K-8 and middle school/high schools. I compared the difference between all the grades to determine the difference in money spent between grades. I also did this because Whitney is thinking of changing the menus so the middle schools will have the same menu as the K-5 and K-8. We also contacted the current vendors to ask if they could possible change portion sizes of such things as the rolls, buns, bread sticks and other bread items to better fit the new requirements.
The second week I was also involved in the pre-bid conferences for fruits/vegetables and bread. This was an interesting process. The previous week they, my preceptor and her boss, met with the contract department to put the final touches on the bid paperwork to put out for vendors to read/bid on. This week, we actually invited potential vendors into the building to read over the bid together, answer questions and set forth the requirements to fulfill the bid.
The third week of this rotation continued from where the second week left off. There were bid items that were brought in the time that I was gone, such as fruit and bread products. I was allowed to try these items, and give my feedback. We also took some of the (mass amounts of) fruit and made baskets that we delivered to the other departments of the PPS as a "Happy End of the School Year" gift. We also had an end of the year employee/retiree party that we prepared lunch for, set up and cleaned up for. It was nice to be able to serve those employees that serve the kids all year round. I also was able to participate in the summer food service training and provide feedback on how to improve upon it. To end the week, rotation, and the internship we met again at the bargaining table with the union representatives to continue discussions on a contract that both sides agree upon.
The following attachment is the "calendar blurbs" that I came up with that will be included on next years school calendar:
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Wellness blurbs.pdf Size : 71.281 Kb Type : pdf |
