Savannah-Chatham County culinary manager says better school meals boost learning

A culinary program manager for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System said in a staff-spotlight video that improving school meals helps students learn and that the program also provides meals for teachers.

The manager, introduced in the segment as the district’s culinary program manager, traced a career that began in the U.S. Marine Corps and included culinary school and restaurant work before joining the district. “I’ve been cooking all my life,” the culinary program manager said, recounting early training and family influences.

The segment noted the manager used a GI Bill earned as a gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps and later worked as a Connecticut state trooper, before moving into restaurant kitchens. The manager described responding to a job advertisement at the Landings, earning a sous-chef jacket about six weeks into that job and being given a restaurant about a year later.

“Today’s nutritional values, we know that the better the kids eat with the proper amount of grains and meat and meat substitute and vegetables, it empowers their brain to learn better,” the culinary program manager said. The manager added the district feeds teachers and said the goal is to give students better meals so they arrive at class ready to learn.

The segment said the manager joined the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System after more than a decade in the field and is one of roughly half a dozen certified chefs on the school nutrition team. The manager described family cooking traditions and long-term volunteer activity through local fraternal organizations: “Growing up, my father always cooked. We were always members of the Knights of Columbus here,” the manager said, and added that the family has been on a parade committee for about 15 years.

Ken Slatz closed the segment, identifying the piece as an SCCPSS staff spotlight. “With your staff spotlight, I’m Ken Slatz,” he said.