06/10/2024

School Food Fellowship Program Spotlight: Lowell School District

Megan Ramette

School Meals

In Lowell School District, nutrition staff, teachers, students, and the team at Project Bread are all working together to create healthy, delicious, and culturally relevant meals each day.

This week, we took a tour of Lowell High School to see the program in action: from their participation in our School Food Fellowship Program, to staff-developed school lunch recipes, to students bringing their recipes from home to the school lunch menu.

Project Bread staff, DESE staff members, Lowell school nutrition staff, teachers, and students gathering to celebrate the school district's achievements in providing healthy, delicious, and culturally relevant school meals. — Wally Robles, Lowell Cook; Representative Rodney Elliot; Sam Icklan, Director of Community Nutrition Services, Project Bread; Sherry Hughes, Chef Educator, Project Bread; Randy Rajsambot, Lowell Executive Chef; James Hall, Lowell COO; Gentille Gikundiro, Lowell High School student; Representative Vanna Howard; Sahil Hakim, Lowell High School student; Rob Leshin, DESE Director of Food and Nutrition Programs; Luis Fernando Shibri Quizhpi, Lowell High School student; Alysia Spooner-Gomez, Lowell School Nutrition Director; Regina Robinson, DESE Deputy Commissioner; Jessica Lander, Lowell High School History teacher; Liam Skinner, Lowell Superintendent.

Since October 2023, Project Bread’s Chef Educators have partnered with the Lowell School District as part of the School Food Fellowship program- an opportunity for schools to work with Project Bread to innovate their school nutrition programs, develop and launch staff-led and student-tested recipes, and encourage more students to participate in school lunch programs. This school year, Chef Educators Sherry Hughes and Ryan Eckles helped teach students how to make delicious smoothies, assisted nutrition staff with their kitchen management and delegation of tasks for efficient meal preparation, developed a staff recipe for a fajita seasoning, launched new and flavor-packed menu items such as Pork Bulgogi, and helped host a Grain Bowl Extravaganza.

"The Food Fellowship program with Project Bread has been amazing. Chef Sherry and Chef Ryan have worked closely with my staff to build culinary skills and focus on student satisfaction in our schools. Their hands-on approach of working beside the staff to listen to their needs and help when needed has been an amazing asset for our team. We also have adapted a few recipes that have become student favorites on our menu, from Soy Chicken Tacos and Chicken Banh Mi to our new entrée featuring our cook’s recipe Wally’s Boomin Nachos. This Food Fellowship is an incredible opportunity for our students and staff and we look forward to expanding the program next year."

Alysia Spooner-Gomez, Lowell School Nutrition Director

“Project Bread believes in healthy, delicious, free school meals for all children. We’re so grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Lowell School District through the School Food Fellowship Program, and we’ve seen tremendous growth in kitchen management, menu preparation, and staff engagement since last October. We know that when students are fed at school, they are much more focused and ready for the day. And when school nutrition staff are supported through this program, we get to see their creativity shine in developing menu items that keep kids excited and nourished throughout the day. Nearly 1 in 4 Massachusetts households with children are facing food insecurity and we want to see more students eating better and eating together at school.”

Sam Icklan, Project Bread Director of Community Nutrition Services

During the school visit, Lowell High School teacher Jessica Lander was also recognized for her Tasting History project and joined by three of her students. What started as a U.S. History class cookbook project six years ago has since transformed into a collaboration between Lander, Spooner-Gomez, and the district’s food services department to feature meals from students’ ethnic backgrounds on lunch menus to ensure meal options are familiar to and as diverse as the student population. Luis Fernando Shibri Quizhpi, a junior, shared Encebollado — an Ecuadorian fish soup made with tuna, cassava, and tomatoes. Sahil Hakim, a recently graduated senior, shared Qably Palow — the national dish of Afghanistan, and Spooner-Gomez arranged for halal meat to be sourced and served for the first time in the district. Gentille Gikundiro, a junior, shared Umutsima na Isupu Y’inka — a spiced Rwandan beef stew with fufu — that was served in the cafeteria during lunch on Monday.

School Food Fellowship Program Spotlight: Lowell School District

Students and visitors were encouraged to try samples of Wally’s Boomin’ Nachos, a recipe developed in-house by Lowell Cook Wally Robles. Plenty of students (and DESE staff) came back for second helpings!

And as the cafeteria bell rang, students gathered in the servery to try Umutsima na Isupu Y’inka- a spiced Rwandan beef stew with cornbread fufu. Gentille Gikundiro, a Lowell High School junior, shared this family recipe from her home country of Rwanda for the 2023-24 Tasting History cookbook.

Help keep children and teens nourished when classes end- all summer long!