April 4 | Fort Wayne | April 6 | Indianapolis
Do you want to take your school meals program to the next level? Join us to build your marketing, culinary, leadership and stakeholder engagement skills. During this day-long training, participants will learn how to do the following:
- Market Your Program in a Tech Savvy World
- Involve Students and Caregivers in School Meals
- Break Down Common Barriers to Participation
- Create Culturally Responsive Foods & Reach Your Community
- Develop Leadership Skills to Resolve Conflicts
Participants can earn up to 6.5 Professional CEUs by attending this training.
Training Agenda:
Download the training agenda by clicking here.
Dates:
April 4th | Carroll High School in Fort Wayne | 8 AM – 5 PM
April 6th | Warren Central High School in Indianapolis | 8 AM – 5 PM
Interested in joining? Fill out our registration form below by March 24!
Spots are limited and will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis.
Training Sessions
Human-Centered Design 101
Human-Centered design, part of the School Meals Design Guide, is a creative problem-solving process that can be used to make meal programs more student-centered. In this session, participants will learn how to incorporate human-centered design approaches. By utilizing the skills from the other sessions, participants will be able to formulate strategies to implement these new techniques with the target audience in mind. By utilizing strategies from the human-centered design approach, we can work toward expanding participation in meal programs.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to understand the student and parent perspective on the school meal program.
- Participants will identify strategies to reach more students at their schools.
- Participants will develop strategies to reach their target audience and how to involve them in the work.
Professional Standards code: 3230 Evaluate and utilize resources to promote a healthy school environment.
Diversify Your Menu
Join Chef Rebecca as we dive into culturally relevant recipes for the top five that comprise Hoosier families. We will learn more about these cuisines and how to utilize the recipes in school meals. Chef Rebecca will provide practical, culturally responsive school nutrition recipes for you to take back and serve in your schools.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will become familiar with Mexican, Nigerian, Burmese, and Haitian cuisines.
- Participants will identify one strategy to implement culturally relevant recipes in their school meal programs.
- Participants can implement at least one recipe in their school meal programs.
Professional Standards code: 2110 Understand and effectively prepare food using a standardized recipe.
Level Up Your Serving Line
Let’s take your serving lines to the next level! Join Chef Rebecca as we learn about garnishing and eye appeal. Don’t forget your phones because participants will learn how to use smartphones to take professional photos that can be shared on social media or school websites.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will identify one strategy to add garnishes in their school menu.
- Participants will create one serving line design for best eye appeal.
- Participants will implement one professional food photography strategy in their child nutrition programs.
Professional Standards code: 2230 Serve food to maintain quality and appearance standards.
Breaking Down Barriers
This session will identify common barriers that keep kids from participating in school meal programs and how to break them down, move towards more accessible programs and feed more students to maximize your programs. This session will feature Indiana leaders who will share their experiences and ideas.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will understand several common barriers to program participation, including cost, stigma, time, location and language.
- Participants will learn specific strategies for how to address these barriers, including innovative service models, eliminating meal co-pays through options like CEP, Provision 2 and non-pricing, leveraging community partnerships, and the resources available to do so.
Professional Standards code: 4110 Develop strategic plans and marketing plans that reflect program goals and enhance interaction with stakeholder.
Marketing Your School Nutrition Program
Marketing your program is critical, but we know it can be difficult to balance with other competing priorities. How do you tell your story correctly and effectively? In this session, participants will learn about various DIY strategies and tools to market their programs to students, parents and caregivers, including social media, engaging the press, promotional events and theme days.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will learn how to use various marketing techniques and strategies.
- Participants will identify the best marketing strategies to reach their target stakeholders.
- Participants will design a personalized marketing plan.
Professional Standards code: 4150 Communicate within the school and to the community through multiple approaches to inform and educate stakeholders.
Your Conflict Style Inventory
Conflict is common in the workplace and is something many of us look to avoid, but having the proper tools to deal with conflict can make all the difference when it eventually arises. This 1-hour training explores five different conflict management styles and how each is used to approach difficult conversations with coworkers and/or stakeholders. This training will provide participants with effective tools to approach conflict in the workplace to achieve more positive outcomes.
Professional Standards code: 3410 Dealing with Difficult People and Personnel Management.
Training Speakers
Rebecca Polson CC, SNS, has nearly 10 years of experience as a chef working in public schools all over the country. She currently is a K-12 culinary trainer and chef consultant working with districts and manufacturers to bring scratch-made, chef-driven healthy meals to schools. She began her career in the foodservice industry in 2011 after graduating from Johnson & Wales University with a culinary arts degree. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in merchandising and business from Florida State University.
Rebecca has experience in several areas of the industry, including working as a line cook at James Beard award-winning Bern’s Steakhouse, and running a test kitchen as research and development chef for restaurant chain, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, as well as bar chain, The Brass Tap. Rebecca joined The Culinary Institute of America’s Healthy Kids Collaborative in 2015 and continues to be an active member. She has worked with the School Nutrition Association and the School Nutrition Magazine for four years as a monthly contributor to the Food Focus section of the magazine. Her unboxing videos and quick recipe tutorials using Minneapolis Public Schools meal boxes garnered national attention throughout the pandemic. When she’s not in the kitchen creating healthy recipes, Rebecca enjoys working out, posting to social media @ChefRebeccaK12, traveling, exploring her new hometown, and spending time with her dog, Roxy.
In a career spanning more than 25 years, Chef Erik Jacobs has approached foodservice hospitality from a variety of angles.
As a Chef, Food Writer, Culinary Instructor, Wine Consultant and Entrepreneur, Chef Jacobs’ natural desire to explore has taken him around the globe and fostered an intimate knowledge of many international cultures and cuisines. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chef Jacobs currently works with an organization that provides critical support to culinary teams in the Senior Living industry.
When not in the kitchen, Chef Jacobs enjoys following Major League Baseball, lively games of pickleball with friends, and seems to always be planning his next trip to France!
Tarrah Westercamp is the Owner of Westercamp Consulting LLC providing exceptional service for school districts and other organizations working within Child Nutrition Programs at the state and local level. Tarrah is a Registered Dietitian with over 10 years of experience in Child Nutrition Programs encompassing USDA regulations, meal pattern requirements, school food service operations, obtaining stakeholder buy-in, and innovative implementation strategies to increase meal access to students. 
Samantha King is part of Share Our Strength’s Innovation team, where she develops and manages a portfolio of projects that are creating solutions to food insecurity by centering the needs and wishes of communities. The School Meals Design Guide is one such project that adapts the principles of human-centered design to the school food context. Created in partnership with IDEO and food and nutrition teams from across the country, the guide provides practical, ready-to-use tools to better understand the wishes of students, caregivers, and other community stakeholders. Prior to Share Our Strength, Samantha was a director with the social impact strategy consultancy, FSG, where she developed strategies for clients ranging from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Humana.
Erica Olmstead currently works as a Senior State Campaigns Manager at Share Our Strength where she oversees the strategy and execution of No Kid Hungry campaigns across seven states. In this role, she works in partnership with community-based organizations, school districts, advocates, state agencies, and elected and appointed officials to ensure that all kids have 3 healthy meal a day, 365 days a year, regardless of who they are or where they live.
Prior to joining Share Our Strength, Erica led tobacco-prevention efforts at a local, state, and national level to engage youth as leaders to create the first tobacco-free generation. Erica received her Master’s of Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from George Mason University and her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Cultural Anthropology from SUNY Plattsburgh. Erica currently lives in upstate New York in a log cabin on 25 acres with her wife and their two rescues, Hattie and Prudence.
