Nauset Schools Director of Food & Nutrition Services Wins Award

The national, non-profit School Nutrition Association (SNA) has named Susan Murray, SNS, director of food and nutrition services for Nauset Public Schools, MA, the Northeast regional Director of the Year. The award recognizes the extraordinary contributions of school nutrition directors who manage effective school meal programs providing healthy, appetizing meals to students. While the nomination process began before widespread COVID-19 school closures, SNA also recognizes the expansive efforts of school nutrition directors to manage current emergency feeding programs, ensuring needy students continue to access healthy meals.

With 17 years of experience, Murray took on the director role about eight years ago and has turned a department that was facing a deficit of $200,000 a year into a profitable one. The school system is made up of five complex and different districts, so the first thing she did as director was create cohesion across locations. She initiated monthly manager meetings, communications with the whole school community in five districts, staff trainings and networking opportunities.

Murray updated the nutrition services website for parents, students and staff to receive wellness updates, nutritional and allergy information, interactive menus and links to various government assistant programs as additional reference. Murray created monthly newsletters for parents, to share tips on eating less processed foods, creating more scratch cooking options, using healthier recipes and incorporating local foods. She added a number of programs to increase school meal participation. She implemented student taste-tests, wellness committees, Harvest of the Month program, Meatless Mondays, parent lunches, cafeteria composting and recycling, special food days and holiday celebrations.

Murray has created an educational and supportive environment for her staff. She has partnered with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension for many outreach programs for staff, including the John Stalker Institute and Institute for Child Nutrition for staff trainings. Her staff has had trainings on culinary skills, nutrition and leadership to enhance their knowledge as well as on customer service and professionalism.

Murray developed creative ways to generate revenue streams outside of school meals to purchase kitchen equipment, a composting machine and equipment for the culinary program at the high school as well as help pay off lunch debt. Two premier collegiate summer baseball teams in the Cape Cod League play on school district fields and Murray created an opportunity for foodservice staff to manage concession stands. Through this program, Murray has also been able to keep the cafeteria staff employed over the summer months and provide jobs to district students. She also coordinates with the Recycling Committee to reduce food waste through recycling and composting, creating a product that can be used for athletic fields or sold to the public.

A member of the SNA of Massachusetts since 2003, Murray has volunteered her time for numerous positions in the organization, including membership chair, delegate and delegate-elect for Chapter 5, volunteer for the Boston national SNA Conference, and member of the Ambassador Committee, Nutrition & Legislative Committee and Professional Development Committee. Murray also holds the title of president-elect.

“Susan Murray’s dedication to her staff and students is inspiring; she is so deserving of this recognition,” said SNA President Gay Anderson, SNS. “Her creative ideas and passion for school foodservice benefits her district both financially and nutritionally.”

The regional Director of the Year Award was created to recognize school nutrition directors who exhibit an extraordinary commitment to their school meal programs. The directors are responsible for maintaining the quality of the program through student interaction, menu planning and a commitment to serving nutritious, tasty and well-balanced school meals. Through effective oversight of all aspects of foodservice operations, including budgeting, staffing, training, marketing and community outreach, school nutrition directors ensure the overall success of school meal programs.

About School Nutrition Association:

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) is a national, non-profit professional organization representing more than 55,000 school nutrition professionals across the country. Founded in 1946, SNA and its members are dedicated to making healthy school meals and nutrition education available to all students. For more information on school meals, visit www.SchoolNutrition.org/SchoolMeals.