VVSD Administrator President-Elect of Illinois School Nutrition Association

Submitted by Valley View School District 365U

Tracie Suter, Assistant Director for Nutrition Services for Valley View School District 365U, is the President-Elect of the Illinois School Nutrition Association. She will become President a year from now.

Suter, who has been VVSD’s Assistant Director for 14 years, has been on the ILSNA Executive Board for two years, serving as Incoming Vice President as well as Vice President. During her most recent stint as VP, she was responsible for organizing last month’s state convention in Tinley Park.

A graduate of Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in dietetics, she began her career in hotel hospitality management. She moved into the school food service field through what she terms “a fluke” when her sister, who is a food broker serving schools, suggested she apply for a job in Westmont Community Unit School District 201.

“I thought I don’t want to be a lunch lady. Never ever, ever,” she recalled. “But then I looked into it, I applied for their Director job and haven’t look back.”

Suter’s passion for her job and concern for the staff she oversees (along with VVSD Director of Nutrition Services Meghan Gibbons) is legendary.

“School food service is the ideal job,” she said. “You meet great people. You do great things for kids. You don’t work weekends. You have holidays off. And, depending on your position, you get summers off.”

In fact, Suter is so sold on careers in school nutrition that she would love to see her three teenage children follow in her footsteps.

“I tell them all the time they should grow up to be lunch ladies,” she said. “There are so many amazing opportunities.”

The Oswego resident will preside over a state association with nearly 600 members, ranging from line employees to managers, as well as vendors and management companies.