Dining Hall serves up new favorites
Since last year, Cornerstone’s secondary population has grown to 1,243 secondary students. For the dining hall, that means over 1,243 mouths to feed, plus staff. That’s over a thousand different tastes, preferences, likes and dislikes when it comes to food.
“CCS has welcomed more than 100 additional families,” said Aramark Food Services Director Priscilla Schneider. “Which means we’re serving more students with a wider range of preferences.”
Many students last year voiced their preferences and suggestions for school meals, and the cafeteria staff listened and delivered. Several new options and changes have been implemented this year, including the rotating salad and sandwich bar, baked chicken wings, a variety of Asian-inspired dishes and acai bowls served at breakfast and lunch.
So far this year, the sandwich and salad bars have been very popular among students for their ability to provide a healthy, customizable lunch option, and most students have continued to enjoy former favorites from last year as well.
“Baked chicken wings have been especially popular,” Schneider said. “We serve about 100 portions each time they’re on the pizza line. We’ve also seen a great response to butter chicken, chicken and vegetable dumplings, grilled panini sandwiches, chicken nuggets, grilled chicken burritos, brisket, macaroni and cheese, and chicken tenders.”
To add to or change things on the school menu, though, is not as easy as it sounds. Ingredients, equipment, space and staff time needed for preparation are all things that must be considered before adding a new item to the menu.
“Açaí bowls are a good example,” Schneider said. “Students requested them at lunch, but we needed a place to keep them frozen when the salad bar was being used for another lunch concept. We found space in the cold units near the registers. Then we had to make sure students knew where to find them and that our team had time to prepare them.”
This year, Aramark posted a student survey in the Class Teams for students to be able to fill out. This survey asks students for feedback on their dining experiences and suggestions for the dining hall.
“I wish more students knew how much thought goes into the menu before food reaches the serving line,” Schneider said. “Our team plans portions, orders ingredients, prepares food, ensures food safety, and adjusts throughout service to feed over a thousand students in a short time. Student feedback is part of that work. We listen to requests, try ideas when we can, and use what students actually choose to decide what comes next.”
Generally, many students and staff have commented on the kindness and helpfulness of the cafeteria staff when it comes to preparing and serving food.
“I hope students know they can talk to us,” Schneider said, “If you can’t find an item, have a question about ingredients, or want to suggest something, ask a lead chef or me.”
Photos courtesy Priscilla Schneider
About the Contributor
Emmalee Barnes, News Editor
Emmalee Barnes is a senior at CCS. She has loved writing from a young age and has enjoyed the opportunity to learn journalistic style writing in her journalism class. She enjoys writing about compelling people, school events and interesting topics. Her hope for writing for the paper is to bring a voice to the people who feel like they have none and to represent those who feel ignored.
