MCS Food Service Team Receives Golden Apple Award

Culinary Excellence

                              (File)

The Indiana Department of Education Office of School & Community Nutrition has recognized the MCS Food Service Team with the 2021 Golden Delicious Apple Award. This award recognizes culinary excellence in serving fresh and nutritious meals to Indiana students and youth.

In a release, Office of School & Community Nutrition Director Julie Sutton stated, “Indiana school foodservice programs were challenged by our department to demonstrate and, when necessary, make improvements in nutritional quality and freshness of menus created to serve school children. We are happy to announce that the food service staff of Madison Consolidated Schools welcomed this challenge and are hereby presented the Gold Level award.”

During the timeframe, MCS food service staff submitted self-evaluations of current menus reflecting a wide variety of colorful menu choices, including fresh fruits and vegetables, a mix of hot and cold entrees, as well as other healthy menu planning techniques. The menus and evaluations were reviewed by the IDOE School & Summer Field Specialists to confirm best practices.

In addition to their work throughout the school year, members of the MCS Food Service Team worked to feed area youth throughout the summer. MCS sponsored the summer meal program in coordination with River Valley Resources. Tammy Shaw, MCHS cafe manager, Sharon Peak, Lydia Middleton Cafe manager, and Loretta Thevenow, Lydia Middleton assistant cafe manager worked together to prepare 6,272 meals as part of the community program. “These ladies would come in at 5:00 a.m. to prepare meals and make sure they were packaged and ready for delivery to community operating sites,” shared Judy Brooks, MCS Nutrition & Wellness Coordinator. “We have a great partnership with Lucy Dattilo at RVR and an amazing team of volunteers who help make this possible. Our bus drivers Peggy Mellas-Kilgore, Jake Allard, and assistants Cheyney Brewer and Lydia Goebel, delivered the free meals to designated locations throughout our community to individuals eighteen years of age and younger. As the program progressed, the ladies determined a hot meal on Fridays was necessary and as a special treat, the final Friday everyone received a hot, homemade turkey manhattan!”

In addition to the community summer meal program, we had staff who also prepared meals for summer school students while in session early in June. “I am so grateful for the hearts of our team,” shared Brooks. Every person on our team who worked to provide these meals has a love for and dedication to make sure our students are put first and have nutritional meals to eat while at school. All in all, our team served 7, 210 meals in June and July."