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  Pat Adams

  Pat Adams

  Pat Adams, a native of Thibodaux, Louisiana, recently retired (again) after a long and rewarding career in child nutrition programs. Pat was already a teacher when she was recruited to be the assistant supervisor in school food service in Terrebonne Parish in Houma, Louisiana, in 1979, and was promoted to supervisor in 1984. She remained with Terrebonne Parish until 1997, when she retired the first time and went to work for the Archdiocese of New Orleans school nutrition program. Pat again retired in 2009 to pursue other interests. Never one to sit still for long, on the day of our interview she was taking a break from chairing her local Mardi Gras committee.

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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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  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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  Elizabeth Beavers

  Elizabeth Beavers and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Elizabeth Beavers is an Oklahoma native who dedicated many years of service to child nutrition in both Oklahoma and Texas. Her double major in home economics and business gave her a solid base on which to build a long and highly rewarding career.

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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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  Barbara S. Belmont

  Barbara S. Belmont and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Barbara S. Belmont has spent most of her career in association management. She was with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) before becoming the executive director of the American School Food Service Association/ School Nutrition Association for eighteen years.

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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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  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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  Eugenia Bozeman

  Eugenia Bozeman and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Eugenia Bozeman served first as an area consultant and later as the manager coordinator for child nutrition programs in Georgia for over thirty years, and was also president of the Georgia School Food Service Association.

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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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  Shelia Brown and Mike Harris Oral History

  Shelia Brown, Mike Harris, and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Shelia Brown and Mike Harris have worked in school nutrition at the Maryland School for the Blind since the 1960s. Shelia is now a supervisor and Mike is an assistant supervisor.

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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 - 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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  Melissa Campbell and John Dupre - Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Melissa Campbell 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 response of the Louisiana Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs.

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  Earnestine Camp

  Earnestine Camp and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Earnestine Camp has been actively involved with school food service programs for over sixty years since she began teaching Home Economics at Yellville-Summit High School in Yellville, Arkansas, in 1942. In addition to teaching, she directed the school lunch program there from 1943 to 1951. She was an Area Supervisor in the School Food Service Section of the Arkansas Department of Education from 1953 – 1987. She served as Southwest Regional Director for the American School Food Service Association. Ms. Camp coordinated membership for the Arkansas School Food Service Association from 1986 – 1999. Since 1999 she has been active with the Association’s Foundation Program. The Arkansas School Food Service Association established the Earnestine Camp Manager’s Award and Ms. Camp has also been named a life member of both the American School Food Service Association and the Arkansas School Food Service Association. Sadly, Ms. Camp passed away on December 6, 2012.

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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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  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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  Beverly Cross

  Beverly Cross and Institute of Child Nutrition

  One of the first hires for the new National Food Service Management Institute/Institute of Child Nutrition, Beverly Cross spent more than a quarter of a century working for the Institute. Here she shares her reflections as she prepares for her retirement in December 2017.

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  Nina Cross

  Nina Cross and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Evelina (Nina) Cross received her PhD from Texas Woman’s University and then joined the faculty at Louisiana State University. While at LSU, she taught and directed the dietetic internship. Her research and many of her publications were in the area of school food service. In addition, she served three years as the first National Food Service Management Institute Scholar. During this time she worked with the research arm of the Institute to develop a financial model for school food service. Since retirement from LSU, Dr. Cross has worked with both the Louisiana and Mississippi Departments of Education to offer continuing education and training to child nutrition professionals. Cross is a consultant trainer for the Institute of Child Nutrition. She resides in Jackson, Mississippi.

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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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  Jo Dawson

  Jo Dawson and Institute of Child Nutrition

  A lifelong Alaskan, Jo Dawson attended fifteen different schools growing up, as her family followed he father’s career as a state trooper. Having worked as the National School Lunch Program Coordinator, the Child and Adult Care Food Program Coordinator, and the USDA Foods Coordinator, she now is the Alaska State Director for nutrition programs.

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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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  Diane E. Duncan

  Diane E. Duncan and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Diane E. Duncan was, as a teenager, an original member of the National Youth Advisory Council for the American School Food Service Association. The ASFSA started this group to learn more about the student perspective regarding school food service. This experience led Diane to decide to make the nutrition field her career. After working with the Rice Council, ConAgra Foods, and the Florida Department of Citrus, Diane is currently with McKee Foods.

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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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  Annette Dupard

  Annette Dupard and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Annette Dupard is a native of Vacherie, Louisiana. She is a graduate of Southern University and a retired Food Service Manager for the East Baton Rouge Parish Child Nutrition Programs.

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  John Dupre

  John Dupre and Institute of Child Nutrition

  John Dupre recently retired after 25 years as State Director of Nutrition Programs for the State of Louisiana.

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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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  Sylvia Elam and Paul McElwain

  Sylvia Elam, Paul McElwain, and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Sylvia Elam’s involvement with the child nutrition profession goes back over thirty years. She is a native Kentuckian and holds an undergraduate degree in Home Economics from Morehead State University, with graduate work in Education. As a home economist she has worked in business and also taught at the secondary level. In the early 1970s she began work for the Kentucky Department of Education as a consultant in child nutrition. Since that time she has held various positions within the department from consultant all the way up to Assistant Director of Nutrition Services. She is now retired.

  Paul McElwain has been involved with the child nutrition profession for over 20 years. He too is a native Kentuckian and holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Morehead State University and also a law degree from Northern Kentucky University. He has held various positions within the Kentucky Department of Education and has been the Director of Nutrition Services since 1987. He served on ASFSA’s Public Policy and Legislative Committee for seven years. He is a past recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy School Hero Award.

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  Anita Ellis

  Anita Ellis and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Anita Ellis is a former educator who, as Assistant Director for the West Virginia Department of Education of Child Nutrition, directed the Nutrition Education & Training program. She has conducted training for teachers and food service personnel. She wrote the Kansas Department of Education, Pyramid Builders, Nutrition Curriculum K-6 and the Mississippi Department of Education, Pyramid Pursuit, Nutrition Curriculum K-3 and Grades 4-6.

  Mrs. Ellis has various experiences in school food service procurement as well as training. She has organized four (4) purchasing cooperatives in West Virginia and continues to assist them with brand approval and bid specifications. She does team teaching for the course, First Choice, A Purchasing Systems Manual for School Food Service. In addition, she developed the Instructor’s Guide for the first edition of First Choice, designing relevant learning activities and transparencies.

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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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  Sandra Fisher

  Sandra Fisher and Institute of Child Nutrition

  Sandra Fisher, a graduate of Penn State and Hood College, has spent her career working in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She started out as a hospital dietitian before getting involved with the development of the NET Program in Pennsylvania. She later spent twenty years in Maryland as a Processing Specialist for the Commodity Program.