Article #14 in a Series >>>>> Departments and Offices of the Minneapolis Public Schools >>>>> Culinary and Wellness Services

As I complete the advanced final draft of my new book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect, I am conducting a final review for updating mission statements and staff composition.  I have in the last days and weeks listed and made comments on many offices and departments, with an emphasis on staff members and effectiveness.  In the current series of articles I will be emphasizing departmental function and mission statements, but I will give staff listing updates as I deem useful to my readers and will give staff composition in cases for which I have not previously done so.

 

MPS Culinary and Wellness Services is led by Director Bertrand Weber, who is one of many MPS staff member who reports ultimately to the highly adept Chief Operations Officer Karen DeVet.

 

MPS Culinary and Wellness Services has been one of the most responsive such entities in the nation with regard to the provision of healthy food options to students and was very welcoming of Michelle Obama’s campaign for such options to the young people of the United States.  All staff members of MPS Culinary and Wellness Services should be very proud of their contributions, which provide hope that student health and well-being becomes a vital focus of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

On the pertinent portal of the MPS website, one finds excellent links to information on lunch menus, current menus, smart snacks, recipes, nutrition and ingredients, fresh fruits and vegetables, special dietary needs, food trucks and catering, and such featured programs as the following:

 

>>>>>   Farm to School

 

>>>>>   Minnesota Thursdays

 

>>>>>   Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)

 

>>>>>   Community Eligibility Provision

 

>>>>>   True Food Chef Council

 

>>>>>   Snack Supper

 

>>>>>   Great Lakes Apple Crunch

 

Staff and other information given on the Culinary and Wellness Services portal of the MPS website is given as follows:   

Bertrand Weber, Director   Mark Augustine,             Executive Chef & Operations Manager Omar Guevara-Soto, Operations Manager Julie Danzl, Student Wellness Manager Josiah Nebo, Senior Accountant Richard Hollenback, Sous Chef & Operations Supervisor Lori Valenziano, Senior Buyer John Kons, Logistics Supervisor Erik Hanson, Catering Supervisor Daniel Gilman, Supervisor & Packaging-Distribution Anita Clare, Training Specealist Kate Seybold, Farm to School Coordinator Erin Lynch, Registered Dietitian Dane Rosso, Dietetic Specialist Anne Ferreira, Menu Planner Konni Yingst, Site Supervisor Teresa Nelson, Site Supervisor Terri Schultz, Site Supervisor Ashley Schneider, Site Supervisor Anthony Caruso, Site Supervisor Sara Eugene, Extended School Meals Coordinator Jennifer Bordon, Active Living Kollin Leisinger, Graphic Artist Wanda Micks, Account Clerk Hashep Seka, Information Assistant

 

Quick Contacts Questions? Please reach out to some of our key staff members who are eager and ready to help you in any way they can. .     Omar Guevara-Soto Site Operation and Site Staffing 612-668-2839   Hashep Seka Application for Educational Benefits (formally known as Free and Reduced Lunch) 612-668-2865   Julie Danzl Wellness Policy, Student Wellness 612-668-2857   Jenny Bordon Safe Routes to School, Bicycling, Bus Stop and Walk 612-668-2827   Sara Eugene After School Snacks, Suppers, Summer Meals 612.668.2822   Kate Seybold Farm to School, Taste Tests, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), School Gardens  612.668.2852   Erin Lynch Special Diet Requests, Nutrition Education  612-668-2847   Erik Hanson Catering Functions, School Cookouts, Food Truck.  612-668-2854