School staff recognized for food quality

CLOVIS - Whether it gets served on a kitchen table or a cafeteria line, state education officials said Thursday, good food is the product of labor and love.

The staff of Clovis Municipal Schools was recognized for both, as CMS was proclaimed New Mexico's inaugural school food champion. The district's 63 employees were honored in a ceremony at the Marshall Middle School courtyard.

According to a PED release, the award was given to CMS based on a quality of food survey taken in April that inquired about satisfaction with the nutrition and taste of school meals. Richele DiQuarto, a PED dietitian/nutritionist and fresh fruit and vegetable coordinator, said of the 5,500 surveys received from 79 school districts, Clovis made up 41% of the student responses.

"They were excited to put in their feedback," DiQuarto said, "and a lot of it was very, very positive."

Prior to the ceremony, PED officials toured Marshall and nearby James Bickley Elementary to see the care and attention on that day's lunch service - meatball subs, garden salads, sliced cucumbers, ranch dressing and peach cups.

Michael Chavez, the PED's director of student success and wellness, commended staffs for meeting the daily challenge of making food kids look forward to eating while meeting stringent nutrition guidelines. The COVID-19 pandemic, Chavez said, showed the department just how much education depended on the things that happened outside of the classroom like transportation and food. Remote learning, he said, showed good nutrition keeps students engaged.

Deputy Secretary Katarina Sandoval told the audience of her upbringing in Albuquerque, and noted her grandmother never went beyond fifth grade herself but played a crucial role in her granddaughters academic success by living a few blocks from school and having a homemade meal ready at lunchtime. When Sandoval broke the news she got accepted into college, her grandmother was proud but jokingly chastised her because she still couldn't make a tortilla from scratch.

"It's hard labor, but it's made with love," Sandoval said. "You can be creative, you can be innovative. You have set the standard for our state."

Clovis Superintendent Renee Russ said the award was special to her because of her family connection to school food service. Russ said she still gets kind messages from Clovis residents about her grandmother Maurine Reynolds, who served as cafeteria manager at Gattis Junior High.

"It made her so happy to serve those kids," Russ said. "I learned to love this district through her eyes."

Russ thanked Deputy Director of Nutrition and Well Being Debbie Westbrook for incredible leadership, and told the staff they were greatly appreciated and make impacts on children that may never be fully revealed.

The ceremony included the district receiving a 10-foot banner declaring the inaugural state school food championship, which would be displayed an undetermined campus. After the banner award, those in attendance socialized and visited around pair of tables featuring a scrapbook with pictures of Reynolds and plates of baked goods prepared by the Clovis High and Cameo Elementary staffs.