ANC 2015 Was a Huge Success!
Another successful year at the School Nutrition Association's Annual National Conference!
Members of the Meals Plus Team were on-hand at the SNA's Annual National Conference last week, including Child Nutrition Operations Consultant, Cynthia Sevier, SNS. She wore many hats at ANC 2015 – attending general sessions, education sessions and was at the Meals Plus Booth during the exhibit hall hours.
In addition to menu boards and financial tips for your department, (Click here to read the complete article) there were two major items discussed at this year's conference: Child Nutrition Reauthorization and Professional Standards for School Nutrition Professionals. There are lots of free resources available to make these processes easier, including a Food Research and Action Center Child Nutrition Reauthorization webinar and a Training Tracking Tool from the USDA. Follow our blog and keep an eye on your Inbox for more free resources to help with reauthorization and professional standards in the coming months.
Thank you to the School Nutrition Association, the city of Salt Lake City and everyone who helped make ANC 2015 a success! We can't wait to see you all in San Antonio next year!
Click here to read the complete article.
5 Ways Our PowerSchool Connector Saved this District "Thousands of Hours"
Since implementing the PowerSchool Connector last year, Bruce Davis, Supervisor of Food Service at Prince Edward County Public Schools (VA), has found his "life-saving tool" has saved him "thousands of hours of data entry." There are lots of ways the integrated tool saved him time, and here are just a few:
 It eliminated manual entry and
information updates between
Meals Plus and PowerSchool.
He no longer had to manually download the information
from PowerSchool and upload it to Meals Plus.
Because of the "set it and forget it" nature of the
daily updates, him being out of the office wasn't an issue
- the updates would still happen.
He never had to worry about accidentally forgetting to
import.
Looking up student information is now easier than ever.
District staff are able to answer questions from parents
or students from any one of the cashier's computers,
because the students' information is right in front of
them.
Bruce says now he is able to "let the PowerSchool Connector do all the work for me." If you are interested in more information on how PowerSchool Connector can help save you thousands of hours of manual data entry, contact us today!
Click here to read the complete article.
 Customer Spotlight
Stephanie Bruce, Palm Springs USD (CA)
Stephanie Bruce, Nutrition Service Director at Palm Springs USD, is always on the go, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She juggles a lot between her career and passion for travel. Sometimes the two even coincide! Get to know Stephanie in our latest Meals Plus Customer Spotlight and click here to read about other Meals Plus Customers across the country.
 The Dish: How long have you been using Meals Plus?
Stephanie Bruce: We are starting our second full school year with Meals Plus. We have one year and three months under our belt and feel like pro's!
TD: What duties and responsibilities does your position entail?
SB: As the director for the department I oversee the entire nutrition service operation. We produce over 20,000 meals daily and transport food to the Coachella Valley for Summer Feeding. We are a small corporation in as much as my role wears many hats; human resources, inventory control, procurement, chef, nutritionist, fire chief, guidance counselor, fiscal controller and motivator, to name a few.
TD: What aspects of your position do you enjoy the most?
SB: Making it all come together. There are so many cogs in the wheel of Child Nutrition and no matter what happens, we still serve breakfast at breakfast time and lunch at lunch time. Every day is something new and is a challenge. It takes a special person to work in this kind of environment and the people I am blessed to work with make every day a good day.
TD: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
SB: I spend a lot of my free time traveling. I enjoy experiencing new cultures and seeing what school lunch is like in other countries. When I travel to other countries I make contacts before I go and spend at least one day seeing how school meals are served. It has been such an inspiration and done so differently in the rest of the world. I have had school lunch in Italy, England, Germany, France, Hungary. I also enjoy amateur photography, cooking, of course, and hanging out with my schnauzer, Mikey. I don't sit still too often; there is always something to do and something new to experience.
TD: What what your favorite cafeteria lunch when you were a student?
SB: Turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes. Back in those days we had lunch tickets - yellow was a lunch ticket and orange was a milk ticket. I used to go each morning and buy my orange milk ticket for $0.07. Crazy! I remember being so excited when mom went back to work because I was going to get hot lunch every day instead of once a week.
Thank you, Stephanie Bruce and Palm Springs USD,
for being a part of the Meals Plus Family!
Click here to read the complete article.
Meals Plus Customer Cookbook
To show our appreciation to our Meals Plus Customers, we are publishing our first edition of the 'Meals Plus Customer Cookbook'! This free cookbook will be filled with the most popular recipes from school cafeterias across the country in an effort to help increase participation in the lunchroom while still meeting USDA meal pattern regulations. It will also include creative promotional ideas, Meals Plus software tips, and advice from our Child Nutrition Operations Consultant, Cynthia Sevier, SNS.
We just need recipes from Meals Plus Customers! If you'd like to include one of your favorite lunchroom recipes in the Meals Plus Customer Cookbook, please email them to recipes@mealsplus.com and we will take care of the rest. You may submit more than one recipe, and at least one recipe from each school district submitting will be included in the book. Click here for the easy-to-use recipe template.
Every Meals Plus Customer will receive one cookbook free of charge, and additional copies will be available for purchase. The proceeds from the additional cookbook purchases will be donated to the No Kid Hungry Campaign.
Welcome to Meals Plus
We'd like to welcome the following school districts to the Meals Plus Family!
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Components
- Point of Sale
- Free & Reduced
- Online Services
- PowerSchool
Connector
- Inventory
- Menu Planning
- Nutrient Analysis
- Accountability
- Financial
- Time Clock
- Fixed Assets
Free Resources
Fiscal Survival 101: Financial Success in the Era of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
Keeping the Lunchline Moving: Tips to Increase the Speed of Your Lunchlines
Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves: Inventory Management for Your Child Nutrition Program
The Five P's of Promoting Your School Meal Program
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