Former and Current Local Child Nutrition Program Directors/Supervisors

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  Mary Alexiou

  Mary Alexiou and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Mary Alexiou, a native Alabamian, recently retired as the Director of Child Nutrition Programs for Vestavia City Schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville State University and a master’s degree from University of Alabama, Birmingham. Prior to going into child nutrition she worked first as a consultant for various hospitals and nursing homes and then at the Guntersville Hospital. She has also been a very active member of the School Nutrition Association.

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  Gay Anderson – Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Gay Anderson and Institute of Child Nutrition

  During 2022 the Child Nutrition Archives conducted multiple interviews investigating how child nutrition professionals dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the operations of school feeding programs. This interview examines the experiences of Gay Anderson, School Nutrition Director in the Sioux Falls School District in South Dakota. Gay has almost 40 years of experience in food service.

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  Michael Anderson

  Michael Anderson and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Michael Anderson, originally from Oregon, now cooks for the Nenana School District in Alaska.

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  Gertrude Applebaum

  Gertrude Applebaum and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Gertrude Applebaum devoted forty-seven years of her illustrious career to the Corpus Christi School District, forty of which were spent as Food Service Director, and then seven as Assistant Superintendent. Soon after becoming a member of the child nutrition profession Ms. Applebaum attended the meeting in Chicago where Food Service Directors and the National School Cafeteria Association voted to merge and form the American School Food Service Association. She served as President of this organization, now known as the School Nutrition Association, in 1981-82.

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  Sharon Gibson Barksdale

  Sharon Gibson Barksdale and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Sharon Gibson Barksdale grew up on a working farm in Calloway County, Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri at Columbia where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Home Economics. After teaching briefly she went on to serve for twenty-seven years as Director of School Food Services for Columbia, Missouri. She has been active in the Missouri School Food Service Association and also in the American School Food Service Association, serving as President from 1985 – 1986.

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  Paula Barletta

  Paula Barletta and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Born in the Sudetenland, Paula Barletta left Germany after surviving World War II, and later moved to Yuma, Arizona, with her American husband, where she became the food service director.

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  Jimmie Barnett

  Jimmie Barnett and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Jimmie Barnett is from the state of Georgia, where she worked in school nutrition with the Muscogee County School District for many years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics, a Master’s degree in Education, and a Specialist of Education in School Nutrition, all from the University of Georgia. Jimmie began her career as a home economics teacher. In 1992 she was appointed as the Assistant Director of School Nutrition for the Muscogee County School District and later became the School Nutrition Director. She is a member of the School Nutrition Association and has served in leadership roles at both the state and national levels. In 2007 Jimmie received the Thelma Flanagan Gold Award of Service. She is ServSafe certified and has been a ServSafe instructor. Jimmie currently serves as a consultant trainer for the Institute of Child Nutrition.

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  Lucille Barnett

  Lucille Barnett and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Lucille Barnett grew up in Union County, South Carolina, in the 1930s and 40s. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. She served as Supervisor of County and City School Food Service in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for thirty-three years. From 1973-1974 she served as American School Food Service Association President. She resides in South Carolina. See also the Lucille Barnett Photograph Collection and the Lucille Barnett Manuscript Collection.

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  Dennis H. Barrett

  Dennis H. Barrett and Institute of Child Nutrition

  A native of Idaho, Dennis H. Barrett has spent his professional career in food service working in Alaska, Texas, Nevada, and California. After working thirty years as a food service director, he retired from the Dallas, Texas school district.

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  Thelma Becker

  Thelma Becker and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Thelma Becker, a native Pennsylvanian, grew up in Philadelphia. Becker served as a school food service director in Pennsylvania and is a past-president of the American School Food Service Association, now the School Nutrition Association.

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  Betty Bender

  Betty Bender and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Betty Bender, a native of Kentucky, was educated at the University of Kentucky, the University of Montana, and Duke University. After working in Massachusetts and Indiana, Bender married and moved to Dayton, OH, and worked for the Dayton School System for thirty years. While there she earned her master’s in Food Management. Betty was ASFSA President in 1983-84.

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  Carolyn Blake

  Carolyn Blake and Institute of Child Nutrition

  An Alabama native, Carolyn Blake has worked in child nutrition for 37 years.

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  Sadie Booker

  Sadie Booker and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Sadie Gilmore Booker has been actively involved in the education process since graduation from Louisiana Tech University in 1945 with a BSE in home economics followed by an MS-R.D. in 1969. Her first job was as an extension home economist teaching nutrition to 4-H and Home Demonstration Club women. After a 10 year hiatus during which she married and had three children, she returned to her career from 1959 to 1995. She taught elementary school, Jr. High Home Economics and science and high school Home Economics for the El Dorado School District #15. She taught the first Occupational Home Economics class in the state of Arkansas and continued to do so while being School Food Service Director for 25 years. At the college level she taught Catering for Special Occasions for Southern Arkansas University, Nutrition Education for University of Arkansas, and Occupational Home Economics for the University of Southern Mississippi. Mrs. Booker was actively involved in professional organizations serving as President of Home Economics section of Arkansas Education Association in 1968; President of Arkansas Vocational Association in 1969 and President of Arkansas School Food Service Association in 1980-81. She served on the legislative committees of Arkansas School Food Service Association in Washington, D.C.

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  Shirley Watkins Bowden

  Shirley Watkins Bowden and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Shirley Watkins served as Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1997 – 2001, the first African-American woman to hold that position. Prior to that she was Director of Child Nutrition Programs for Memphis City Schools for seventeen years. She served as president of ASFSA from 1988 – 1989. She now works with Southern Educational Services, a consulting business concerned primarily with environment friendly school food service cafeteria operations.

  Shirley Watkins Bowden sat for an update to her oral history interview with Jeffrey Boyce on May 22, 2014, at the National Food Service Management Institute while she was participating in a seminar covering the first twenty-five years of the Institute’s operations. This update is included at the end of the interview.

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  Mattie Bradley

  Mattie Bradley and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Mattie Bradley was hired as the Food Service Director/Cafeteria Manager for the Weiner School District, Weiner, AR in 1996. She was a local restaurant owner who decided to sell her business and retire. When the local school district found itself in need of a Food Services Director, Ms. Mattie’s reputation as an excellent cook and manager got the attention of the school district and she was immediately offered the position. Working within the guidelines of the Arkansas School Nutrition Program, Mattie and her staff provide wholesome meals, both breakfast and lunch, to over 300 students daily. For many students these are the only two meals they get during the day. Ms. Mattie makes it her responsibility to provide nutritious and great tasting meals for her students as well as encouraging them to develop life-skills to help them succeed once they graduate.

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  Marilyn Briggs

  Marilyn Briggs and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Marilyn Briggs began her career in child nutrition as School Food Service Director for San Juan Unified school district in Sacramento, California, during the 1970s. Later she served as Coordinator of the Nutrition Education and Training Program and worked on what became the prototype for the National Nutrient Standard Menu Planning System. She recently stepped down as state Director of Nutrition Services for California to work on her doctorate in nutrition science. She has held offices in the Society for Nutrition Education, the American School Food Service Association and American Dietetic Association.

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  Diane Buchanan

  Diane Buchanan and Institute of Child Nutrition

  A native or Oregon, by way of California, Diane Buchanan worked in finance for school nutrition programs in Alaska before her retirement.

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  Chris Burkhardt – Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Chris Burkhardt and Institute of Child Nutrition

  During 2022 the Child Nutrition Archives conducted multiple interviews investigating how child nutrition professionals dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the operations of school feeding programs. This interview examines the experiences of Chris Burkhardt, who is the executive director of school nutrition for the Cleveland (Ohio) Metropolitan School District.

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  Lonnie Burt

  Lonnie Burt

  Lonnie Burt recently retired as the Senior Food & Child Nutrition Services Director for the Hartford Public Schools where she oversaw the school meal program, including Breakfast, Lunch, Afterschool Snacks, At-Risk Supper, Summer Feeding and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Grant. She has worked in Child Nutrition for the nearly 35 years and has been in Hartford since 2004. Lonnie also works as an Adjunct Professor for Manchester Community College where she teaches classes in Nutrition, Human Resources, and Food Service Safety and Sanitation for the Hospitality Program. Lonnie is a Registered Dietitian who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics from Saint Joseph College and a Master’s Degree in Allied Health from the University of Connecticut. Lonnie is a past President of SNACT (2015-2016) and is currently a member of the Child Nutrition Committee. Previous positions include Education Chair, Personnel Chair, and Marketing Chair.

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  Lonnie Burt - Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Lonnie Burt and Institute of Child Nutrition

  During 2022 the Child Nutrition Archives conducted multiple interviews investigating how child nutrition professionals dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the operations of school feeding programs. This interview examines the experiences of Lonnie Burt, who is presently employed as the Senior Food & Child Nutrition Services Director for the Hartford Public Schools where she oversees the school meal program, including Breakfast, Lunch, Afterschool Snacks, At-Risk Supper, Summer Feeding and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Grant. She has worked in Child Nutrition for the past 33 years and has been in Hartford since 2004. Lonnie also works as an Adjunct Professor for Manchester Community College where she teaches classes in Nutrition, Human Resources, and Food Service Safety and Sanitation for the Hospitality Program. Lonnie is a Registered Dietitian who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics from Saint Joseph College and a Master’s Degree in Allied Health from the University of Connecticut. Lonnie is a past President of SNACT (2015-2016) and is currently a member of the Child Nutrition Committee. Previous positions include Education Chair, Personnel Chair, and Marketing Chair.

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  Four Past-Presidents

  Bowens Martin Caldwell Nix and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Oral History interview with American School Food Service Association Past-Presidents (now the School Nutrition Association), Shirley Watkins Bowden, Dorothy Caldwell, Josephine Martin, and Mary Nix, regarding the founding of the National Food Service Management Institute (now the Institute of Child Nutrition), May 21, 2014, at the National Food Service Management Institute (now the ICN), The University of Mississippi.

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  Dorothy Caldwell

  Dorothy Caldwell and Institute of Child Nutrition

  After teaching home economics for two years, and then taking several years off to raise her five children, Dorothy Caldwell spent twenty years as food service director for Marianna, Arkansas schools. She then worked as the state director of child nutrition for the Arkansas Department of Education for another decade, serving as the president of the School Nutrition Association toward the end of this period. After a brief retirement Dorothy was recruited to come to USDA in Washington, DC, to work in Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services for another four years.

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  Mary Carter

  Mary Carter and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Mary Carter in in her third-fourth year career in child nutrition. She started out as an assistant manager, then became a single-unit manager, multi-unit manager, and is now the supervisor of thirty-four schools’ child nutrition programs.

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  Jerry B. Cater

  Jerry B. Cater and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Jerry B. Cater retired after 11 years as Research Scientist with the Applied Research Division of the National Food Service Management Institute. She served 19 years as Director of School Food Services in Long Beach, Mississippi. While at NFSMI, she served as project manager on numerous research projects including the development of Financial Management Information System model for school nutrition programs. The model served as the basis the design of FUNDamentals, a financial management reporting software.

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  Debbie Chatagnier

  Debbie Chatagnier and Institute of Child Nutrition

  After working in hospital dietetics for twenty years in facilities in Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi, Debbie Chatagnier has been the child nutrition administrator for Gulfport City Schools for the last fifteen years.

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  Marilyn Chrisman

  Marilyn Chrisman and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Marilyn Chrisman is an Arkansas food service director, having spent her entire forty-one year career working in child nutrition.

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  Lark Christian

  Lark Christian and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Lark Christian has worked as a child care supervisor and statewide coordinator for child nutrition programs for the State of Mississippi. She is now the food service director for Jackson County, Mississippi.

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  Kris M. Chustz

  Kris M. Chustz and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Kris M. Chustz, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a recently retired school food service professional, having worked as a Manager, Area Supervisor, and Computer Training Coordinator for the Eastern Baton Rouge Parish.

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  Jacqueline Clements

  Jacqueline Clements and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Jacqueline Clements holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Home Economics and a Master’s in Administration and Supervision. She taught Home Economics for eighteen years before transferring to school food service. Jacqueline then worked as a Food Service Director for an additional seventeen years.

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  Barbara Cole

  Barbara Cole and Institute of Child Nutrition

  An Arkansas native, Barbara Cole has worked in child nutrition for the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired for forty-one years. She was also a longtime member of the National Advisory Committee of the National Food Service Management Institute/Institute of Child Nutrition.

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  Charles Cole & Pat Deckert

  Charles Cole, Pat Deckert, and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Charles Cole served the state of Texas as a math teacher, school principal, and finally as a Texas Education Agent, where he eventually oversaw the state child nutrition programs. Pat Deckert was a food service director and later a food broker before finishing her career as a consultant with the Texas Education Agency.

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  Mary Eleanor Cole

  Mary Eleanor Cole and Institute of Child Nutrition

  After finishing her Master’s at LSU, Mary Eleanor Cole was recruited by Mildred Stringfield to come to East Baton Rough Parish child nutrition programs to work on food and equipment specifications. After a number of years she became director in 1976.

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  June Crews

  June Crews and Institute of Child Nutrition

  June Crews was a School Lunch Program Supervisor in Charlottesville, Virginia, from 1965– 1966.

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  Mary Davis-Palms

  Mary Davis-Palms and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Mary Davis-Palms is an Area Supervisor with the East Baton Rough Parish School Nutrition Programs. A graduate of Louisiana State University, Mary has thirty-four years of service in child nutrition.

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  Annette Derouin – Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Annette Derouin and Institute of Child Nutrition

  During 2022 the Child Nutrition Archives conducted multiple interviews investigating how child nutrition professionals dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the operations of school feeding programs. This interview examines the experiences of Annette Hendrickx Derouin, who is the Director of Food and Nutrition Services for Willmar, New London-Spicer, Montevideo and Community Christian Schools in Minnesota. These four districts offer the Child Nutrition Programs to the fullest extent possible. Annette has worked in School Nutrition for over 25 years. She is a Registered Dietitian and has her Master’s Degree in Health and Nutrition Administration. She holds the School Nutrition Association School Nutrition Specialist Credentials and is a Certified Food Safety Instructor.

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  Sylvia Dunn

  Sylvia Dunn and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Sylvia Dunn taught in Georgia and Texas before returning to her native Louisiana, where she also taught before going to work in nutrition programs at the State Department of Education. After four and a half years with the Department of Education she became the food service director for St. Tammany Parish, where she has worked for the last twenty-five years.

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  Hester Dye

  Hester Dye and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Lifelong Arkansas resident Hester Dye is a very active member of her local, state, and national food service associations, and is a past recipient of the Louise Sublette Award. She is currently the Food Service Director in Brinkley, Arkansas. She credits Ernestine Camp’s mentoring as playing a vital role in the success of her nearly 40-year career in child nutrition.

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  Elizabeth E. Edelman

  Elizabeth E. Edelman and Institute of Child Nutrition

  An Anchorage, Alaska native, Elizabeth E. Edelman has worked in numerous areas of school nutrition in Alaska, and now is working as the food service manager in the head cook program in the Valdez district.

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  Linda Erwin

  Linda Erwin and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Linda Erwin, an Arkansas native, began her career as an elementary and then a home economics teacher. She later moved to Tennessee and taught adult vocational home economics classes. She eventually went to work for Shirley Watkins, the school nutrition director for Memphis City Schools, who introduced her to child nutrition. Erwin eventually moved to Georgia where she continued her career, becoming a food service director, and became very active in the Georgia School Food Service Association. She retired after twenty-eight years in the Georgia child nutrition programs.

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  Pat Farris

  Pat Farris and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Pat Farris holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics and a Master’s Degree in Human Nutrition from Louisiana State University. She has held numerous positions in the field of nutrition, first working in hospitals, and later consulting in child and adult weight management. In 1980 Pat accepted a position with the Louisiana Department of Education’s child nutrition programs, and learned what school lunch was about for the next fourteen years. Since 1994 she has been with the Archdiocese of New Orleans, where she is currently the Director of School Food Services.

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  Darlene French

  Darlene French and Institute of Child Nutrition

  A Maine native, Darlene French hails from South Bristol. After spending part of her childhood in Florida, the family moved back to Maine and settled in Boothbay Harbor. After several years in restaurants and catering, French applied for a position in school food service. She was hired as a cook, she took every training available to her, and advanced to baker, and then manager, and finally is the current food service director in Boothbay Harbor.

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  Perry Fulton

  Perry Fulton and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Perry Fulton of Alabama worked for nearly forty years in multiple areas of child nutrition programs. He spent more than a decade at the district level before moving to the state, where he specialized in troubleshooting financial issues and getting districts back on track. He was also instrumental is creating a statewide purchasing program for the State of Alabama nutrition programs.

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  Barbara Gauthier

  Barbara Gauthier and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Barbara Gauthier is a retired school food service director originally from Thibodaux, Louisiana. After graduating from LSU with a degree in Hospital Dietetics and Institutional Management and working briefly in industry, Gauthier took her first job in school food service in East Baton Rouge Parish. After working for several years and in multiple positions in East Baton Rouge, Gauthier moved on to Lafourche Parish as a food service director in her native Thibodaux. Here in Lafourche Parish Gauthier introduced the Breakfast Program, as well as introducing centralized menu planning and purchasing. At retirement Gauthier left the district with a $5 million surplus in their school nutrition programs.

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  Anne Gennings

  Anne Gennings and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Anne Gennings of New York State, started her career as a hospital dietitian and served as president of New York State Dietetics. Gennings then became the food service director at New Harvard Central School and stayed in that position for thirty-three years. She was president of the New York School Nutrition Association in the late 1980s and president of the American School Food Service Association in the early 1990s.

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  Beverly Girard

  Beverly Girard and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Beverly Girard is a licensed and registered dietitian with almost 35 years of experience in school and clinical nutrition. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition in Business from Purdue University, a master’s in Dietetics and Nutrition from Florida International University, an MBA from Nova University, a graduate certificate in Social Marketing from the University of South Florida, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of South Florida.

  Dr. Girard is the Director of Food and Nutrition Services in Sarasota County, Florida, a district of 42,000 students with a budget exceeding $18 million annually. She directs nearly 400 employees at 50 base schools, satellite schools, and charter schools. She oversees summer feeding programs and feeding for emergency shelters. Sarasota County Schools is a District of Excellence with 30 Healthier US School Challenge Schools.

  She is an active member in professional organizations including the Alliance for School Food Service Leadership, School Nutrition Association, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dr. Girard has extensive experience as a speaker and instructor. She has numerous published articles and serves as an editorial reviewer for several journals. She is a certified School Nutrition Specialist, ServSafe instructor, and consultant trainer for the Institute of Child Nutrition.

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  Linda B. Godfrey

  Linda B. Godfrey and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Linda B. Godfrey’s 35 years as a registered dietitian have taken her from work on the food service staffs of a hospital and nursing home, as a teacher, and as a U.S. Army reserve unit member to her retirement in 2005. She retired as Child Nutrition Program Director for the Shelby County, Alabama, School System and from the United States Army Reserves with the rank of Colonel.

  She received her B.S. Degree from the University of Tennessee in Food Science and Institution Management, completed a dietetic internship at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham, and received a M.S. in Nutrition and Foods from the University of Alabama.

  Ms. Godfrey continues to be active in a number of school nutrition and dietetic associations and serves or has served in a major leadership role in a number of nutrition-oriented organizations. She has received numerous awards and was awarded the Management Practice Award by the American Dietetic Association in 2004. Her presentations include meetings at the local, state, and national level.

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  Ruth Gordon

  Ruth Gordon and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Ruth Gordon is a registered dietitian with many years of experience in school food service. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from James Madison University in Virginia and a master’s degree in education from Georgia State University. She completed her dietetic internship at Emory University in Atlanta. Ruth recently retired after 28 years with the Georgia Department of Education where she served in various specialist positions and as state director. She also was a School Nutrition Director in Floyd County, Georgia. Ruth has held leadership positions with professional organizations including Georgia Dietetic Association, the School Nutrition Services Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), the Society of Nutrition Education, and the National Association of State NET Program Coordinators. She now serves as a consultant for the development and presentation of child nutrition programs and materials and is a trainer for the National Food Service Management Institute.

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  Sylvia Grabert

  Sylvia Grabert and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Sylvia Grabert is a retired Food Service Director for Iberia Parish in Louisiana. Before coming to Iberia Parish, Sylvia founded the first school food service program in St. James Parish. She holds degrees in both Education and Dietetics, and taught school for several years before going into school food service.