With more than 10,000 students, the Roswell Independent School District is the 8th largest district in the state of New Mexico, serving over 1.4 million meals per year. The district consists of 20 schools, from elementary to high school, and each weekday over 38,000 meals are served.
Lyman Graham, Director of Food Services, believes in the importance of school nutrition and providing students with healthy meal options. He has implemented programs, such as breakfast in the classrooms, nutrition breaks and salad bars, for which he has received various accoladates.
Graham is continually thinking outside the box when developing menu plans for the district's breakfast and lunch programs and nutrition breaks. The district offers an eclectric mix of meals that continually evolves. Breakfast items offered to students include burritos, muffins, egg & cheese buns and cinnamon rolls. Lunchtime options can be pulled pork sandwiches, grilled chicken, quesadillas and freshly cooked vegetables.
In prior years, the District's kitchens produced meals using traditional cooking equipment. After seeing the SelfCookingCenter® at a demonstration, Graham instantly put the combi ovens in his schools' kitchens. The quality of the food dramatically improved.
“I went from cooking a regular chicken nugget to cooking a succulent, juicy, yet crispy on the outside chicken nugget. The kids even love vegetables now because they are not overcooked,” Graham said. Plus, Graham's staff does not have to overcook since everything is perfectly cooked, which reduces food waste.
To top it off, Graham's staff does not have to manually clean the combi ovens. This has saved the school district on labor costs and time. “I find myself stopping my staff from over cleaning due to its simplicity,” Graham added.
After purchasing the RATIONAL SelfCookingCenter® units, Graham and two staff members participated in an Academy RATIONAL event, where they were personally trained on the units. This further convinced Graham that he made the right purchasing decision.