Greetings! My name is Beth McCracken and I am an intern in the Allentown campus. I have a little secret; I am a 25-year employee of Sodexo and currently the director of culinary. My day job is managing the new and upcoming DRIVE process which includes the recipe, menu, and nutrition database that is being implemented across North America in all segments. I manage a dynamic team of talented chefs and seasoned RDNs, and yet I now find myself as the scared, insecure student.
I started with the leadership concentration, where I took an existing Sodexo culinary education program and retooled it to be a series of hands on, basic culinary skills training for RDNs (CPEU eligible). I was so fortunate to have such great support from a Sodexo colleague and my internship director, Alison Reyes. During this rotation, I gained valuable experience in negotiating skills by convincing a unit to provide the facilities, food, and a chef to host two of the cooking classes. I was able to hone my project management skills by preparing action tasks with timelines and holding weekly status report check-ins. The classes were a great success and we had so much fun cooking and learning about one another. Even the Sodexo internship director took a class! I still keep in touch with the RDNs that participated. The project was such a huge hit that it has even been incorporated into the culinary concentration for future internship programs.
I have also had the great privilege of spending time in the different segments, universities, corporate, and seniors. I have been so fortunate to counsel students on food allergens, educate Sodexo staff on recipe compliance, and provide healthy holiday recipe recommendations to adults in corporate services locations.
I have had so many great experiences, but I’ll end with this one; having to fulfill many hours of community service truly brought out my spirit of service that I didn’t know existed. I’ve lived in my house for 15 years and didn’t know that a short bike ride away is a homeless shelter that is focused on ending the cycle of homelessness for children. I have done well over 50 hours of service at Deep Roots, a homeless shelter (www.deeprootsinc.org), and I’ve even recruited fellow Sodexo employees to help cook, serve, and provide fun activities for the children. I conducted a healthy snacking nutrition education for the children. This was my first education session and I didn’t think the children would care. I was so surprised with how engaged they were, the questions they asked, and their curiosity to taste four different kinds of apples and critique them. This really built up my confidence as an educator and my ability to build relationships with any age group and socioeconomic status.
As hard as it is to hold a full time job and do the internship with all of its requirements, I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I am truly having a blast learning so much and meeting so many people.
I started with the leadership concentration, where I took an existing Sodexo culinary education program and retooled it to be a series of hands on, basic culinary skills training for RDNs (CPEU eligible). I was so fortunate to have such great support from a Sodexo colleague and my internship director, Alison Reyes. During this rotation, I gained valuable experience in negotiating skills by convincing a unit to provide the facilities, food, and a chef to host two of the cooking classes. I was able to hone my project management skills by preparing action tasks with timelines and holding weekly status report check-ins. The classes were a great success and we had so much fun cooking and learning about one another. Even the Sodexo internship director took a class! I still keep in touch with the RDNs that participated. The project was such a huge hit that it has even been incorporated into the culinary concentration for future internship programs.
I have also had the great privilege of spending time in the different segments, universities, corporate, and seniors. I have been so fortunate to counsel students on food allergens, educate Sodexo staff on recipe compliance, and provide healthy holiday recipe recommendations to adults in corporate services locations.
I have had so many great experiences, but I’ll end with this one; having to fulfill many hours of community service truly brought out my spirit of service that I didn’t know existed. I’ve lived in my house for 15 years and didn’t know that a short bike ride away is a homeless shelter that is focused on ending the cycle of homelessness for children. I have done well over 50 hours of service at Deep Roots, a homeless shelter (www.deeprootsinc.org), and I’ve even recruited fellow Sodexo employees to help cook, serve, and provide fun activities for the children. I conducted a healthy snacking nutrition education for the children. This was my first education session and I didn’t think the children would care. I was so surprised with how engaged they were, the questions they asked, and their curiosity to taste four different kinds of apples and critique them. This really built up my confidence as an educator and my ability to build relationships with any age group and socioeconomic status.
As hard as it is to hold a full time job and do the internship with all of its requirements, I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I am truly having a blast learning so much and meeting so many people.
