Aubrey ISD High School celebrated kitchen renovations, new menu items and fresh opportunities for students and staff at its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Aubrey ISD Child Nutrition and food service provider Aramark hosted the event to mark the occasion and show what the team is providing to students.
“It's just wonderful that we have the opportunity to have so much more available to our students that we can be able to provide good nutrition and all of these options, but to do it more expeditiously during lunchtime,” Aubrey High School Principal Dr. Vanessa Zavar said.
As the Aramark Food Service Director, Coleen Laxalt serves as the liaison between the company and the district and makes sure students' needs are met.
“We're here for the kids and to make sure they get the best experience,” Laxalt said. “…We're trying to do some more innovative food and make sure that they're happy with what it is that we're doing.”
At the ceremony, students could try samples of the new menu items and pick up snacks at the “grab- and- go station,” provided by PepsiCo, General Mills and Dr. Pepper.
In addition to the menu changes, the cafeteria renovation added more lunch lines, increasing from three to five and making the process more efficient.
“Each line has [its] own section, so they have the space that they need,” Director of Child Nutrition Kristy Holt said. “They have the equipment that they need. So it's a lot more efficient. It's a lot more pleasant work environment.”
Zavar shared that a lot of thought went into the layout and design, from the serving line to the placement of the coolers and heaters.
“For example, the cooler and the freezer situation were built on site,” Zavar said.
Holt was equally excited for the new faculty as she was for the opportunity to connect with the students in a different capacity.
“This is an exciting event for us because we have a way to build a relationship with our students,” Holt said. “We can talk to them one-on-one. We can introduce them to what we have to offer this year.”
Holt shared that the work is not done as she and fellow staff prepare for the annual month-long Farm Fresh Challenge through the Texas Department of Agriculture this October.
“It just encourages us to use local farmers, and we partner with local farmers to bring in products that are … from Texas, and then we do an educational piece and teach all that, and so we're excited to do that … I think this is the first time Aubrey ISD has ever done it, so we're excited about that.”
Holt noted that every campus in the district is participating in the challenge from pre-K to 12th grade and will provide local milk, produce and vegetables.
“We're just excited this year; my crew is excited,” Holt said. “We're excited that we can [serve] more students this year because we have [a] bigger space.”
