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Sandra Traister has 23 years of experience in school foodservice. When she came to Karns City School District traditional school breakfast programs had already existed in the district’s schools. She is proud to have always had the support from her staff to carry out the breakfast program, as well as support from teachers and administrators to keep the programs going.
Sandra feels that school breakfast is a great way for the students to start the day with a good nutritious meal that some do not always get before coming to school. In addition to the nutritional benefits, she also sees school breakfast as a great social experience for the students. She finds it rewarding to see the cafeteria staff and students interact with one another and build friendships, and comments, “For some students, the positive interactions could be the first positive comment of the day to them.”
Sandra works to constantly promote the breakfast programs to increase participation. She has done giveaways, prizes, and special events during National School Breakfast Week. One year, the school foodservice department provided breakfast for the school board, showing them the healthy foods that students like to eat for breakfast and educating them about school breakfast. Future goals for Sandra are to improve the participation rates by working with teachers and administrators, and advertising in the student newsletter. She would like to correct the misconception that the breakfast program is only for low-income students and help others begin to see the benefits of school breakfast for all students.
Sandra is very excited to work as a Breakfast Brigade member. She looks forward to meeting new people, networking with others, and sharing strategies for improving school meals participation with other school foodservice directors. She brings to the role of Breakfast Brigade member more than two decades of school foodservice experience along with strong motivation, interest, and belief in the importance of school breakfast programs. |
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