Loudoun County Schools Nutrition Director Receives National Award

The national, non-profit School Nutrition Association (SNA) has named Becky Domokos-Bays, PhD, RD, SNS, Director of School Nutrition Services for Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), VA, the national 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.

During her 25-year tenure in school nutrition, Becky Domokos-Bays has helped expand nutrition programs for her districts and promote the need for healthy meals for today’s students. She has implemented a variety of programs, including supper, after school snacks, summer feeding and fresh fruit and vegetable, and created alternative breakfast options such as Breakfast in the Classroom and Breakfast After the Bell. Serving as director at LCPS for the past five years, Domokos-Bays started a successful summer meal program that served over 49,000 students during the summer of 2018 alone. Her hire of a marketing coordinator has greatly strengthened the communication link between the school nutrition department and parents. The programs now utilize various social media platforms for industry news, photos of school meals, staff recruitment and menu updates and the positive content has garnered national attention.

Working with the school board, Domokos-Bays eliminated the reduced price fee for meals in her first year, increasing participating from 65 percent to 85 percent. Under her leadership, school meal participation has steadily increased each year and the program has maintained a healthy fund balance without a meal price increase in the past four years. Domokos-Bays has incorporated more locally sourced foods on the menu, upgraded school nutrition technology in all 92 schools, provided shoes and chef coats to 385 staff members and is now working to improve the dining experience in middle schools.

One of her greatest accomplishments at LCPS, the Farm to School (F2S) program has grown to roughly 52 active school gardens. She helped foster a strong relationship between the school nutrition services program and teachers in order to offer project-based lessons with gardens. LCPS is a Farm to School national partner. Close to 100 teachers have been trained by SNS staff to include F2S activities into their curriculum. Subjects include business math, developing recipes, kitchen tours, environmental sustainability and protein sourcing. The district will serve as an example, hosting a regional F2S summit this spring.

Collaborating with various departments within the school district and the community has garnered many grant opportunities and funded projects. Together with the Department of Health, Extension and the Rural Economic Development Commission, the department secured funding to install 100 vertical garden towers, expand school gardens, add smoothie bikes as part of nutrition education and create Farmer Trading Cards to highlight local farmers and the work they do.

With student health and satisfaction in mind, Domokos-Bays implemented taste-tests throughout the year so that students can evaluate potential new menu options. She also initiated the use of food allergy identification labels for the serving lines and included meal ingredients online and as part of staff training. The district has affiliate agreements with eight collegiate programs, forging a strong dietetic internship program. The collaboration brings about new ideas and solutions in work efficiency, food allergy awareness, plate waste studies and video production.

Domokos-Bays provides staff with the highest levels of education and training opportunities and her program boasts an impressive staff retention rate of 95 percent among district managers. She holds annual training sessions, hosts local chefs for knife skills training and offers a Support Services Leadership Academy, which centers on building higher level management skills. Each year, Domokos-Bays assesses job performance and interest and chooses between 15‐20 managers to attend SNA state conference and Annual National Conference. She requires continued education for school nutrition staff, signing them up for online courses in a myriad of topics from customer service to recipe building. All mangers and office staff must possess an SNA certificate or credential. She was the first in the United States to establish an SNA District Owned Membership (DOM) for her 108 managers and staff members. She has presented at several state and national conferences, always providing an exemplary example in school nutrition and food service.

Domokos-Bays has held many leadership roles in school nutrition, both regionally and nationally. For Virginia SNA, she has held the position as Scholarship Committee chairperson; Education Committee chairperson; Region 1 director; Public Policy & Legislation member, vice president, president, editor of state magazine; charter member of State Agency Advisory Council and charter member of the Commodity Advisory Board. The 2016-17 SNA president, Domokos-Bays has also been a member of the Governing Council; Nutrition Committee chairperson; vice president, president elect and participates in industry boot camps.

“Becky Domokos-Bays’ passion for her job, her students and her district is evident in the number of positive programs, initiatives and events she has spearheaded over the years,” said SNA President Gay Anderson, SNS. “She is a great example of a school nutrition director invested in the well-being of her students and the high quality of service expected from her staff. We are proud to call her this year’s national Director of the Year.”

The 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.

On July 14, 2019, Domokos-Bays will be honored during the Red Carpet Awards Ceremony at the School Nutrition Association’s 73rd Annual National Conference in St. Louis, MO.

About School Nutrition Association:

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) is a national, non-profit professional organization representing 58,000 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.