Details
Area Manager, Independent School District of Boise City
Boise, ID
Age: 28
Education: B.S. in dietetics from the University of Idaho in Moscow
Years at organization: 4
Why Selected?
Peggy Moore Bodnar, supervisor of Food & Nutrition Services, says: Katie’s eagerness to learn the technical skills of menu planning, marketing and budgeting were complemented by her natural ability to provide coaching and guidance to staff. Katie is extremely calm, patient and has a supportive demeanor, which makes her very approachable. She is extremely organized and never turns down an opportunity to help students, our foodservice staff or her peers in the district office.
Get to know
Helping to get the fresh fruit and vegetable program running. I worked with my
supervisor to apply, and we were granted the award at two schools. I helped set up procedures for ordering, receiving, production and delivery. I helped to get the school faculty on board and made sure the principals understood what the program was. I helped train the foodservice staff on procedures and created nutrition education materials. This year we have six schools on the program.
I attended my cousin’s graduation and Kristin Armstrong (Olympic gold medalist in cycling) was the speaker. She talked about what you get to do in life and as opposed to what you have to do.
Q. What's been the biggest challenge you've had to overcome?I was really shy. Public speaking has never been my favorite thing. In the past I’ve had great ideas, but I wasn’t as comfortable sharing them. This job helped me come out of my shell. Last summer I did a presentation at our back-to-school training in front of about 80 people.
Q. What's been your most rewarding moment?It’s normally little things. Part of my job is helping create menus for students with food allergies. I helped create a menu for a fourth-grade student who has never been able to eat school lunch with his peers. His mom sent me a really nice email thanking me and telling me how happy her son was because he didn’t feel left out.
Q. What would you like to accomplish in your career in the next two years?My goal is to continue to learn and grow. With school lunch being such a hot topic, I feel fortunate to be in a position to have a direct impact on the future of our menus and child nutrition.
Q. What can you look back at now and laugh at?About a week after I started I asked Peggy for a more detailed job description, which she didn’t have. My everyday responsibilities vary so much. I can have a plan for what I’d like to get done, but I may not get done what I had set up to do. I understand now why there is no detailed job description.