Schools In Focus: Food Service During a Pandemic

Schools In Focus is a Spaces4Learning podcast dedicated to K-12 and higher ed design, planning, and management. Each episode will feature a conversation with industry experts, facility managers, architects, and thought leaders on topics related to educational facilities. Catch up on previous episodes here.

Today's episode is about K-12 food service during a pandemic.

Schools In Focus, Episode 6: School Lunch During a Pandemic

Schools In Focus podcast logo and Belinda Oakley, CEO of Chartwells K12, and Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC Services for Education. 

Lunchtime is a bright spot in anyone’s day, especially for students. It’s a time for them to socialize and fuel up for the rest of their day. However during a pandemic, school lunch looks totally different. In this episode of Schools In Focus podcast, I speak to Belinda Oakley, CEO of Chartwells K12, and Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC Services for Education, about school food service during a pandemic.

“There’s a number of ways to make sure school lunch is still a bright spot in a student’s day in this new environment but it’s really about having a flexible view of that and being prepared to pivot and change your plan as the situations continue to evolve,” Oakley says in the podcast.

We discuss various models of food service to accommodate social distancing such as lunch in classrooms and take-home meal kits; keeping cafeterias and classrooms clean; sustainable options to combat the increase of paper and plastic; and innovation in the K-12 food service industry.

Where to Listen

Schools In Focus is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher. Subscribe today, or listen below!

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • RenewAire Releases DX Cooling Coil for Two Existing Energy Recovery Ventilators

    HVAC and indoor-air-quality solutions provider RenewAire recently launched the new HE+DX Coil, a duct-mounted system for the company’s existing HE07 and HE10 energy recovery ventilators (ERVs).

  • Georgia State University Plans Campus Transformation

    Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga., recently received an $80-million gift that will go toward the largest campus transformation project in university history, according to a news release. The contribution from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation will go toward a planned $107 million in campus upgrades across nine projects in downtown Atlanta.

  • UTEP Celebrates Construction Milestone for New Academic Building

    The University of Texas at El Paso in El Paso, Texas, recently held a “topping out” ceremony for its new learning complex, Texas Western Hall, according to university news. The construction milestone marks the placement of the last beam of a structure in progress.

  • Texas A&M Breaks Ground on New Space Institute

    The Texas A&M University Space Institute recently broke ground next to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, according to a news release. The Nov. 15 groundbreaking ceremony followed the Nov. 7 approval by the Texas A&M University System’s Board of Regents of $200 million for the facility’s construction.

Digital Edition