Cafeteria upgrades, healthy foods give ESD students wholesome meal choices daily

Students in the El Dorado School District got a taste last year of new equipment and upgraded food service facilities at their schools, and they’ll have even more to chew on this year, said Kim Newman, food services director for the district, over the summer.

“We have been upgrading all of our equipment in every cafeteria and giving some of them some fresh facelifts with new serving lines,” Newman said. “We’re just wanting to increase our student experience and give them the very best breakfast and lunch that we can.”

ADDITIONS

Barton Junior High students got the chance last school year to pilot one of Newman’s numerous ideas, this one being a homemade pizza line. The new option was so popular, Newman said, that it will be implemented this year at Washington Middle School and El Dorado High School.

“I thought at the beginning of the year, there would be a decrease in participation (at Barton) because it wasn’t new anymore, but that wasn’t the case at all. We made 35 fresh pizzas, eight slices each, every day of the school year. Some days we’d make even more than 35,” Newman said. “All our pizzas are homemade, so our students walk into the cafeteria smelling fresh-baked pizza dough and pizza cooking. We went ahead this summer and put in a pizza line at Washington and revamped the pizza line at the high school.”

Also new last year at Barton was a build-your-own-nachos bar.

“A cafeteria staff member serves them, but the options are endless. I noticed a lot were putting fresh chips, and then covering those with rice, beans, ground beef and then pouring the hot, fresh queso cheese over it, topping it with salsa and pico de gallo, which we make fresh every day,” Newman said. “I love to see how they make a meal. All of those are good choices – lean meats, high-quality cheese.”

For the first time last year, the district’s food services department partnered with EHS’s WOLF program, which provides students with opportunities for work-based learning. Newman said the partnership was successful this year and will continue in the 23/24 school year.

“The proceeds go back into the WOLF program; the cafeteria just provides the good truck and advice on food handling. This upcoming school year, the food truck is going to be out even more. You’ll see it at different schools. We’re definitely going to be serving the teachers lunch more, just to honor and celebrate them, and we hope to serve the students out of the food truck this year too. We’ve had it out all summer, twice a week every week in June and July,” Newman said.

New this year are selfserve “stores” at Barton and EHS.

“They’re a la carte stores with Smart Snack safe products that our students can go shopping for in our cafeteria – one at Barton Junior High and one at EHS,” Newman said. “They can purchase using cash or their parents can load money into their account … that allows them to charge things.”

For the students that prefer the cafeteria, new ovens recently installed at all the district’s schools will make their food even tastier and healthier, too.

“We’ve put in some new ovens that cook more with humidity and fan speed, so it allows the food to retain its moisture and allows us to steam more vegetables instead of boiling, so the nutrient content is higher and it makes the food more flavorful, so we can produce similar things without frying,” said Newman.

OPTIONS

Students in El Dorado are all eligible to receive breakfast and lunch at school completely free of charge. They also now have several meal options every day and can make a meal out of any of the available entrees and sides, so long as they include at least half a cup of fruits or vegetables on their trays, Newman said.

“Our students can walk through the cafeteria and get any combination they want from what’s on the menu,” she said. “The high school alone has eight entrée choices a day; Barton usually has six; Washington has four; and the elementaries have two or three, so we really do try to offer a variety and appeal to every student with every meal. The hardest part, especially at the elementary schools, is they can’t choose what they want because they want both.”

More than 60% of students in the ESD eat in their school’s cafeteria every day, Newman said. Giving them the freedom to choose what they eat is a way to prepare them for the future early.

“We’re modeling out campuses more and more on the college experience, and that’s part of promoting the El Dorado Promise,” Newman said. “We want our students to visualize themselves at college or any type of extended education institution. We want to give our students the chance to see themselves in that setting.”

The ESD sources almost all of its food from the United States, and Newman said cafeteria staff are very devoted to ensuring local students get fresh, healthy meals every day.

“We want to use what we have for groceries and use it well… We really just want to make sure we are giving our students the very best we can,” she said. “We have some of the best people that work in the cafeterias – they’re friendly, they love our students. Southerners, we speak through our food, that’s how we tell you we love you, and our cafeteria staff put a lot of effort and energy into making really nice meals for our students because they enjoy inspiring the kids and giving them a break during the day to come eat lunch.”

To learn more about food services in the El Dorado School District, visit facebook.com/esdfoodservices.