Special Guests Kickoff New Wildcat Dining Program at South McKeel Academy
Lakeland, FL (August 21, 2013) - Students at South McKeel Academy had a new lunch program when they started school this year. To kick off the fresh, ‘made from scratch’ Wildcat Dining menu, several special guests visited the school to have lunch with the students. South McKeel Academy outsourced their dining services to Chartwells, famous for delicious food at Southeastern University. Parents and students are very excited about the new healthier, fresh school lunches and their appeal to the students.
Special guests were invited to have lunch with the students on August 21, 2013 and taste the new school lunch menu. Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam saw the Fresh2U progam launched by the Florida Department of Agriculture in action as students tasted samples of camabola or ‘star fruit’ grown in south Florida. Putnam and Represenative Kelli Stargel convinced several students to try a bite of the pear-like fruit. Around the cafeteria, student samples were displayed of coloring pages to help promote the two fruits featured as in season this month – star fruit and mango.
Other special guests included Rep Seth McKeel and his wife Kim, Mayor Gow Fields, City Commissioners Keith Merritt and Howard Wiggs, Polk County School Board member Debra Wright, and McKeel Board of Trustees Taylor Caffey, Stephanie Campbell, and Michael Peeples.
Chartwells dining program includes a student nutrition education campaign called “Eat. Learn. Live” to promote good food choices. Two characters were onhand at the kick off celebration. Sydney C. Learn, a turtle, who wants kids to choose what is healthy and good for their brain like proteins, so you can stay focused and remember what you read, and Ava Live, a bunny, who promotes the importance of good food choices so you’ll have enough energy to play all day.
Chef Nosh Irani, who manages the McKeel dining programs for all three campues (McKeel Academy of Technology, McKeel Academy Central and South McKeel Academy), made sure the lunch line was running smoothly, and Chartwells Registered Dietician, Hayley Weise , Regional Marketing Manager Sara Hess, and Regional VP Eugenie Caroselli helped make sure students had the opportunity to taste a slice of star fruit and visit with a character. Students were also given character trading cards and a recipe for a star fruit smoothie to take home.
Having Chartwells as South McKeel’s partner in the lunchroom has proven great with foods that the students like to eat, and helps in meeting the challenging Federal guidelines for the school lunch program. Lunch is $2.50 for K through 5th grades and $2.75 for 6th & 7th with teacher lunches $4.00. Lunches can be paid online through the My Lunch Account website introduced last year where parents can also monitor what their children are choosing for lunch. The application for the free and reduced lunch program was also put on line this year streamlining the approval process.
South McKeel Academy opened in 2006 in a former skating rink, as a start-up charter school in South Lakeland. They now have almost 1200 students PreK – 7th grade, and 100 staff. Designated in 2011 as a high- performing charter school by the state, South McKeel Academy under the direction of Principal Judi Morris, is part of The Schools of McKeel Academy high- performing charter school system.
