Every other month we get an update on what’s been happening recently at our Immanuel Lutheran High School, College and Seminary in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Immanuel Lutheran High School Foodservice workers.
If you have ever tried to keep teenagers fed, you know what a challenge that is. Now, imagine trying to keep 100 teenagers fed every day for the entire school year! That particular challenge has been the purview of ILC’s Head Cook, Melanie (Mel) Sydow, for nearly ten years. Mel started as head cook in August 2015, and since then has been in charge of providing healthy, nutritious, and appealing meals for our students. While teenagers certainly have an appetite, they often have very definite likes and dislikes when it comes to their meals. Coming up with meals that will be enjoyed by a large number of students and still be healthy and cost effective takes a large amount of creativity, thoughtfulness, and organization. While not every student will be happy with every meal, Mel has been able to work wonders in providing meals that students genuinely look forward to and enjoy eating.
Mel has found several ways to keep the menus fresh and inviting. She started with the recipes from previous cook Ethel Eder but has been building on that, thanks in part to some resources from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. She also has been very open to input from students. In past years, she had a survey panel that students would suggest meals on, and then she would research whether they would be possible or not. She developed, for example, recipes for lemon chicken and Swedish meatballs from student suggestions. She continues to regularly survey students and elicit informal input from them because she really wants them to enjoy their meals. In that vein, one tradition that she has developed is the high school seniors having a week in which they get to pick the menu for the week from their favorite meals. In addition to the cooking, Mel also has all the administrative tasks associated with the head cook position. She is in charge of ordering the food (within a tight budget), keeping records of the meal and compliance with regulations, and scheduling and supervising student cooks and workers (about six to eight cooks and around thirty kitchen workers.)
For Mel, the most rewarding aspect of this job has been students. She is often the only adult around during meals and meal preparation, so she is able to get to know some of the students, especially the kitchen workers, quite well. She has become another trusted adult that students can use as a sounding board for some of their problems and issues (and to share happy moments), and she can help direct them to campus resources. Furthermore, she is able to see students grow and mature throughout their years here as well as after graduation. Previous to working at Immanuel, Mel cooked at a public school, and she has found the difference like night and day. She emphasized how much more respectful the students at Immanuel are and what a difference it makes to work in an environment where you share faith in common and can participate in worship every work day at chapel.
We are indeed thankful that Mel has continued to share her gifts with our students and school, and ask for continued blessing on her efforts. While we want to feed our students nutritious and tasty meals, we are most thankful that all our faculty and staff are focused on providing them daily the Bread of Life: our Savior and His promises of forgiveness and eternal life.
Dr. Daniel Schierenbeck is President of Immanuel Lutheran College in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.