Mountain View School District Youth Advisory Committee

Mountain View School District Youth Advisory Committee

Kingsley, PA – For the past nine years, food service for the Mountain View School District, has been provided by The Nutrition Group. In an effort to provide students with nutritious meals that students will enjoy, a Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) was formed. The committee consists of students enrolled in the Family and Consumers Sciences Foods class.

At the first meeting, students were introduced to the new informative and interactive digital menu format, Nutrislice. Nutrislice allows parents and students to access their school’s menu online. Plus, unlike traditional menus, Nutrislice gives the ability to review key information for any meal item, including an image, a detailed description, ingredients, carb counts, allergens, and special diet information. Parents and students can also filter menus, making it easier on those with special diet considerations. In addition to this enhanced visibility, users can also rate each menu item and provide feedback so that The Nutrition Group can continue to fine-tune and evolve menus.

The YAC students were also asked to openly communicate student questions and concerns with the school food service program. One specific concern expressed by the students involved the quality of the pizza that was being served in the cafeteria.   As a result of that meeting, Erin Kiryluk, food service director and Elaine M. Chichura, D.Ed., Family and Consumer Sciences teacher arranged for the committee to participate in a taste test. Melissa Hatala, Regional Manager and Sue Rudalavage, Corporate Trainer, prepared and served a few varieties of new pizzas to the student committee. With open communication between the students and the food serve personnel the goal is to provide healthy, nutritious meals that students will eat.

From left to right:  

Melissa Hatala, Regional Manager; Shea, David; Sue Rudalavage, Corporate Trainer; George, John; Elaine M. Chichura, D.Ed., Neri, Abigail; Urda, Camryn; Carroll, Hailey; and, Erin Kiryluk, food service director