Power Players 2017: Choice leads to love at NY district

How many public school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program get a write-up in the high school paper asking that the cafeteria be kept open longer because the food is so good? That happened recently at Westhampton Beach High, where students can choose from among a deli line featuring Boar’s Head products, a hot food line with burgers and pizza available daily and a full salad bar with a wide array of choices at lunch.

Nutrition Services Director Naim Walcott is now experimenting with more customization-intensive food bars in the 1,800-plus student district that will focus on various cuisines ranging from burritos to pasta dishes. Kiosks featuring this service approach are set to debut at the middle school this fall.

The district operates three lines in its high school, with a deli on one side with low-sodium Boar’s Head products along with toppings like peppers and onions and sides like carrots, celery sticks and a romaine or bean salad. Students can either customize or choose one of the three or four premade selections.

“To bring kids to that area, some days I’ll do romaine and couscous or romaine and quinoa or romaine and orzo,” says Walcott. “I’ll use something that’s familiar and add something that’s not so familiar.”

There is also a hot food line that features a daily lunch special and hot alternates like pizza and burgers served daily, plus a full salad bar.

“I buy fresh whole romaine that’s chopped in the morning,” Walcott explains. “We portion it out into large clamshells and then in the salad bar area we have all the different toppings.” These include grilled or breaded chicken, tuna or chicken salad, a couple of cheese options and chickpeas and various beans for those who prefer meatless proteins.

“We make the salad but they pick out what they want on top of it,” Walcott summarizes.

The third line is a snack kiosk with premade sandwiches, beverages, bagels, chips and fresh-made muffins. It is also the main breakfast outlet, which dispenses 50 to 60 morning meals on an average day, while lunch averages 300 to 400.

“We make scrambled egg sandwiches at the high school every day” for breakfast, Walcott notes. “I buy fresh eggs every day.”

The middle school has one service line with a Boar’s Head deli and one snack line. Because lunch is only 30 minutes at that site (it’s 42 minutes at the high school), all the sandwiches are premade, though students can add toppings like peppers, onions and cucumbers. Hot selections include the daily lunch special as well as standards like burgers and chicken fingers.

The elementary school sites have premade lunch and breakfast.

“There’s no Boar’s Head menu; rather, it’s more of a typical lunch menu,” Walcott says of the offerings for his youngest customers. “But the methodology is still the same.”

By that he means that he combines familiar and less familiar components to entice consumption.

As a result, a chickpea and romaine salad is one of the favorites at the elementary school. “I give the chef some leeway to play around with the dressings, so he’ll try to make something he thinks the kids will really like and if it doesn’t work he tries something else. I think one of the areas where we get some success is we keep trying new things and keep trying to move the line a little bit more.”

One recent introduction was a concept called Chipotle Grill, a fresh burrito bar.

“I think the bar [concept] where kids get a say in what goes into their food is our most popular thing,” Walcott explains. “We’ve done it with Tex-Mex where we’ll do roasted chicken, black beans, roasted corn, rice, jalapenos, lettuce, cheddar, cheese and salsa on a whole-wheat wrap and they pick what they want to put onto that. We roll it up for them and they then get their sides and their fruit.”

The same concept was used with gyros and falafels and with chicken wings incorporating various sauces.

Slated for this coming year is a pasta bar for the middle school with a variety of proteins and sauces on a bed of noodles that will be featured several times a week

“When we’ve done [the bar concept] in whatever capacity, we’ve seen more participation and also a buzz,” Walcott notes. “When I came into this, I said ‘We need to create a buzz,’ and if we keep creating a little bit of a buzz where they say, ‘Hey, check this out’ or whatever, we’re going to be more successful.”

He adds that his initiatives have also drawn more teachers and faculty to the lunchroom. “They’re some of our best advertisers,” he says proudly.

That creation of anticipation has worked especially well with a soup program that launches as winter sets in. Walcott says inquiries about what soups will be menued will start to flood in as the weather turns. “It’s become its own thing,” he laughs. “Once we start doing it, it takes on a life of its own.”