The ESProfessionals:
An Action Guide to Help in Your Professional Development

Local Association Success Stories:
Moving out of the Cafeteria and Into the Classroom

Tennessee School Food Services Association
Franklin, Tennessee

"My goal is to get the word out that food service workers are a collaborative group. We are just as interested in education as healthy meals." -Kathy Creasy, School Nutrition Manager, White House Middle School, Franklin, Tennessee

That Was Then

Kathy Creasy is not a certified teacher, nor is she an administrator. She is a school nutrition manager at White House Middle School in Sumner County, Tennessee, as well as a member of the Tennessee School Food Services Association (TSFSA) and NEA's affiliate, the Tennessee Education Association (TEA). She also teaches volumes about world hunger to students, teachers, and administrators. This teaching experience was not in her initial job description, but then Kathy picked up a copy of School Food Services Magazine, the official publication of the American School Food Service Association, and saw an enclosed curriculum kit, called "Going Global." With 3,000 children dying every six seconds from hunger, Kathy felt the calling to educate students and anyone else she could reach about this terrible problem.

This is Now

Now Kathy is often seen out from behind the school's kitchen counters. She has made presentations not only to students but to many other groups. In summer 2002, Kathy made a presentation to teachers and principals at the Tennessee Educational Leadership Conference. Then in October, she appeared at the "World School" at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, to talk to college students from all over the world who were studying to become teachers.

Kathy is pleased at the reception she has been given by her audiences. "The kids don't care if I get up in front of them and maybe stutter a little. They are just so receptive to the subject matter," she explains. "And it doesn't hurt that at the same time they are learning that cafeteria workers can make a difference, that the old school cook stereotype is just that, a stereotype."

This is How

Kathy initially shared "Going Global" with Susan Dalton, TEA's coordinator for Instruction and Professional Development, who was then working as a social studies teacher. Susan was interested in the project from a social studies perspective. Kathy just wanted to get the word out on world hunger. Together they made a great team.

Their first step was to make a presentation to the seventh grade students at White House Middle School. Says Kathy, "The students were very receptive. We pointed out to them the problem of world hunger worldwide. Because it was right after Sept. 11, 2001, we focused on how females especially have suffered under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The food was going to the boys while the girls were starving. This really hit home with the students."

Kathy and Susan did not limit their focus to social studies. They expanded to the subject of science, making a presentation on world hunger to sixth grade science students. "Our emphasis was on different land 'biomes,'" explains Kathy. "We wanted to inform students that the problem of world hunger is not just social or cultural. Much of it can be attributed to scientific factors, such as typhoons wiping out crops, no access to fresh water, and droughts."

For a teen wellness class, Kathy baked bread and made rice not to feed the hungry students but to illustrate an important point about malnutrition. "Although food always talks in any classroom, my point was that there are people all over the world who eat just these foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for their entire lives. Even if they have food to eat, it may not be what their bodies need to sustain them." Although the students joked that eating french fries every day wouldn't be so bad, they also agreed that it wouldn't be a nutritionally sound option.

So far, the campaign to get the word out on world hunger has not been a financial burden on the school district. The curriculum kit that Kathy found in School Food Services Magazine was offered for free, except for a small shipping fee. TEA has been instrumental in funding the few travel expenses that Kathy has incurred, and Kathy's supervisor, Linda Becker, has been cooperative in allowing her the flexibility she needs in her job to accomplish her goals.

Words of Wisdom

"Food service workers, especially managers, might try getting out of their comfort zone once in a while to see what they can achieve. With a problem as big as world hunger, someone has to step up. That person can be a teacher, a principal, or a cafeteria worker."

Contact

Kathy Creasy-School Nutrition Manager,
creasy1964@juno.com

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