Increasing Participation
 Union Public Schools, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Union Public Schools
 Urban school district in Tulsa, OK
 18 school sites, food prep on site, self –op
 66% free and reduced, 16,000 students
 160 employees, $8.3 million budget
 “Healthy” fund balance, increase in participation
–about 5% per year in lunch and breakfast
 Mission: To provide optimum nutrition, through
engaged employees, and efficient and effective
processes that delight our customers.
Union Public Schools/UCA
Foundation of Success
 1. Leadership
 2. Strategic Plan
 3. Customer Focus
 4. Information Management/Best Practices
 5. Employee Focus
 6. Evaluating & Improving Processes
 7. Results!
 From Baldrige Criteria
Leadership
 Servant Leadership
 Determines vision, mission, direction,
purpose of Child Nutrition
 Motivates employees to do their best.
 Engages each employee, helping them to see
what their role is in the organization and
what the focus should be in every decision
and action
 Develops strategic plan and action plans
Leadership
 Leaders multiply their leadership by
empowering others to lead. They share their
responsibility and authority with others to
meet a greater need.
 We provide management and leadership
training for our managers/assistant
managers. They develop goals for their site
that align with department goals, which align
with district goals. Evaluations are based on
goal accomplishments.
Customer Focus: Quality Food
 What do our students/customers want, need,




expect from CN? Tools to determine these
are surveys, focus groups, informal
discussions, etc. (Board member story)
Quality FoodsTaste testing with students
Write great specifications and purchase
quality foods
Batch cook for freshly prepared food
Customer Focus: Quality Food





Culinary training and
skill/knowledge development,
chef involvement (article in Time),
chef- sharing, borrow a chef, etc..
Ties into the popularity of
television food shows, and
demonstrates to customers you
care.
More “from scratch cooking”
Adequate equipment and tools
Use of more Farm to School, local
products
http://time.com/3752931/schoollunches-nutrition/?xid=emailshare
Farm to School
 A win-win for positive
relationships with
farmers, school
cafeterias, & students
 Fresher, healthier and
more nutritious foods
 Provides a boost to the
local economy
Farm to School
 People like this! It is
very well accepted by
communities.
 Helps students learn
about where foods
come from.
 Farm to Student
Activities
Customer Focus: Variety &
Choices
 Students like more choices
and variety. They don’t like to
be told what to take (choice
architecture).
 Utilize fresh fruit and veggie
bars, grab and go meals
(appeals to expediency),
more entrée and fruit and
vegetable choices.
 Serve a student- favorite
entrée along with a fromscratch entree everyday.
 Special diets and dietary
needs
Customer Focus: Involvement
 Involve students as
much as possible in the
development of menu
ideas, naming foods or
serving lines, in
decor/art, choosing
foods to serve, in
promoting your
program to peers
Customer Focus: Involvement
 Educate them about
foods and production
of foods, such as
kitchen tours, handson activities (making
cowboy bread), Junior
Iron Chef events, using
kid’s recipes, nutrition
education, farm tours,
gardens, farmer visits
to schools
Customer Focus: Service!
 Providing service with a
smile and with care,
treating them special,
knowing their names,
correcting problems to
their satisfaction and
above their expectations.
WOW service!
 Relationship building.
 Provide employee
customer service training
Importance of Customer Service
 Why Customers leave:
 9% of customers leave because of
competitors
 10% of customers leave for other reasons
(move, death, etc)
 14% of customers leave because of
dissatisfaction with product
 67% of customers leave because of an
attitude of indifference on the part of an
employee.
Employee Focus
 ENGAGEMENT! Every single employee to be
engaged in their work and know their role and
importance. (Read engagement definition)
 Develop professionalism in your staff, pride will
follow, and students will respond
 Completion of culinary training-chef coats,
certificates, higher pay. Food safety training,
nutrition basics, regulations, customer service,
safety training equips them for better
performance.
Employee Focus: Engagement
 Employee recipe contests, recipes on menus,
management constantly focusing on quality
in word and action to give employees a
consistent message-what you focus on will be
what they focus on.
 Sharing best practices, visiting other schools
and districts for ideas
Marketing!!
 We must always “sell” ourselves and our




products!
Promotions- Dr. Seuss, Brain Foods, free
snacks/breakfasts during testing, etc.,
Free or bonus foods!
Social marketing- Twitter, Facebook,
Pinterest, webpage, Connect Ed
Radio, tv, newpaper articles highlighting your
program-interview, send info, provide
tasting, work with chefs and feature on media
Other Methods to Increase
Participation




Increase number of free/reduced students
Community Eligibility
Breakfast in the Classroom
Data evaluation- look at menus and
participation each day based on menus
 Community Involvement-PTA, Health
Department and other health organizations,
community food banks, farmer’s markets
 Very Descriptive menu/items names
Increasing Participation
 It doesn’t have to be difficult! Invest your
efforts in those things that your customers
want-quality food and quality service, and
never stop improving!
 Questions? Feel free to contact Lisa Griffin at
griffin.lisa@unionps.org, phone 918-357-6132
 Thanks!