Hi everyone! My name is Bre McFall and I am currently a dietetic intern with Sodexo’s distance option and I live in Denver, CO. My first rotation was food service management and I had the opportunity to intern at Colorado Academy which is a private prep school. I arrived on my first day and was not quite sure what to expect since I personally went to public school. I walked in and immediately knew my experience would be very unique.
The school’s cafeteria is not set up a like a typical cafeteria but instead like a dining hall on a college campus. Every single day students and staff are able to choose their meal from six different stations; a deli bar, grill, salad bar, pizza station and two hot stations in which the entrée changes daily. The salad bar has over 30 options of items to choose from, the grill offers turkey burgers, grilled chicken, grilled cheese and burgers, build your own sandwiches are available at the deli bar, and some of the entrees they offer include Thai Chicken Curry, Burrito Bowls, Orange Chicken and Mongolian Beef with Jasmine Rice. Every day there are multiple Mindful, vegan & gluten free options provided. The day to day dining hall operation was amazing to experience but the events that the Colorado Academy dining hall staff helped put together were on a completely different level.
I had the incredible opportunity to be involved in a financial aid fundraiser that Colorado Academy puts on every two years to raise money for families in order to help with the cost of tuition. This year’s fundraiser was called “Fiyo on the Bayou” which offered a New Orleans and Jazz feel. Colorado Academy brought in Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Trombone Shorty for their concert, which was major a hit. They also hired the self-proclaimed “Crawfish King” from New Orleans who cooked an incredible amount of crawfish from his truck. The dining hall staff played a huge role in the fundraiser by setting up and cooking all of the sides for concert-goers which included red beans and rice, macaroni and cheese, garlic bread and a mixed greens salad. They also put together a completely special menu for the band. This event was something I definitely didn’t expect to be participating in during my food service management rotation but will be something I will never forget!
The school’s cafeteria is not set up a like a typical cafeteria but instead like a dining hall on a college campus. Every single day students and staff are able to choose their meal from six different stations; a deli bar, grill, salad bar, pizza station and two hot stations in which the entrée changes daily. The salad bar has over 30 options of items to choose from, the grill offers turkey burgers, grilled chicken, grilled cheese and burgers, build your own sandwiches are available at the deli bar, and some of the entrees they offer include Thai Chicken Curry, Burrito Bowls, Orange Chicken and Mongolian Beef with Jasmine Rice. Every day there are multiple Mindful, vegan & gluten free options provided. The day to day dining hall operation was amazing to experience but the events that the Colorado Academy dining hall staff helped put together were on a completely different level.
I had the incredible opportunity to be involved in a financial aid fundraiser that Colorado Academy puts on every two years to raise money for families in order to help with the cost of tuition. This year’s fundraiser was called “Fiyo on the Bayou” which offered a New Orleans and Jazz feel. Colorado Academy brought in Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Trombone Shorty for their concert, which was major a hit. They also hired the self-proclaimed “Crawfish King” from New Orleans who cooked an incredible amount of crawfish from his truck. The dining hall staff played a huge role in the fundraiser by setting up and cooking all of the sides for concert-goers which included red beans and rice, macaroni and cheese, garlic bread and a mixed greens salad. They also put together a completely special menu for the band. This event was something I definitely didn’t expect to be participating in during my food service management rotation but will be something I will never forget!
