Cherokee School Nutrition Staff Take Part in State Conference

Photo credit: Patch file

Cherokee County School District school nutrition staff recently participated in the Georgia Department of Education’s School Nutrition Program’s annual Directors’ Conference.

The conference in Athens, which was attended by more than 230 school nutrition leaders from across the state, had the theme of “Be Bold” and included topics on remaining relevant, motivated and customer-focused in the field of school nutrition.

“We place great value on providing school nutrition directors the knowledge and skills they need to help children across the state receive healthy and nutritious meal options,” said Nancy Rice, state program director. “This conference was one of the best ever, as our speakers delivered great information that will really help improve the day-to-day business operations of our nutrition services programs.”

The annual conference is an opportunity for school nutrition leaders to network with colleagues from across the state, learn about and discuss issues affecting the industry from research about consumer trends to effective time management tools and to hear new and creative ideas along with proven best practices from guest speakers and during break-out sessions.

Cherokee County was represented by School Nutrition Supervisor Susan Turner, coordinators Linda Dittrich and Nila Maxwell and Manager on Special Assignment Tiffany Ridley.

“The key thing I received from the Directors’ Conference was information through networking,” Turner said. “We had the opportunity to talk with Directors from other districts to see how they are implementing the new mandated standards. We also had the chance to hear Dr. Janey Thorton, who is with the USDA. She presented updates and offered encouragement for our continued success.”

Other guest speakers included Kathryn Hoy, manager of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs; Dr. Jerry Osteryoung of the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship in the FSU College of Business; and Ira Blumenthal of CO-OPPORTUNITIES, Inc.

The conference also included mini break-out sessions featuring speakers from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and various school system managers on topics such as Implementation of Smarter Lunchrooms as well as Menu Challenges and Marketing Strategies.