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Chartwells outlines menu events and plans to boost breakfast participation in Lamar County schools
Summary
Chartwells presenters reviewed a year of school‑meal programming — discovery kitchens, Global Eats and National School Breakfast Week — reported serving samples and staffing numbers, and outlined menu and grab‑and‑go strategies to increase breakfast participation for the coming school year.
Representatives from Chartwells presented a year‑in‑review to the Lamar County School Board on July 15, highlighting student engagement events and plans to raise breakfast participation.
"My name is Karen Ashford. I'm the resident district manager here Chartwells," said Karen Ashford as she introduced the Chartwells team. Marketing and culinary staff described programs run across the district from July through May, including Discovery Kitchen pop‑ups, a Global Eats series and National School Breakfast Week promotions. Staff reported serving samples at outreach events—"we actually served 800 samples of fruit pizza"—and described hands‑on activities such as themed recipe cards, tastings and classroom tie‑ins to boost participation and nutrition education.
Chartwells outlined concrete steps to increase breakfast participation next year: introducing grab‑and‑go composed breakfast bowls (a "Denver breakfast bowl" with eggs and ham) and portable sandwich options to make breakfast convenient for students, especially at schools with lower elementary participation. The vendor also previewed themed events including a Caribbean jerk‑chicken day, a pancake/SunButter program and additional Discovery Kitchen sessions aimed at younger students.
Staffing and retention were discussed: Chartwells reported about 84 returning staff members from last year and 19 new hires on a recent onboarding day, and said improved staffing levels should reduce past shortages of prepared food during spikes in participation. Board members asked whether popular special items like fruit pizza or smoothies would move to regular menus; Chartwells said some items are used as pilots and that favorites may be incorporated where feasible.
The presentation concluded with Chartwells offering to provide catering packages and marketing guides for kitchen managers to standardize menus and events. Board members thanked the vendor for the report and expressed optimism that the planned menu changes and outreach will increase participation in school meals.
