At its annual Summer Retreat July 26-28, 2004, Shelia Middleton, Vice President of Operations for Opaa! Food Management,
announced Kathy Diederich, Opaa!'s Director of Nutrition Services for the Southern Boone County R-I School District
as the recipient of the 2004-05 New Director of the Year award. Kathy was selected by company officials as New Director of the Year from among Opaa!'s New Directors' of Nutrition Services across the state of Missouri. The criteria for selection included top ranking in the categories of creative marketing, employee training, employee safety, fiscal performance, and student and adult participation.
Kathy has been a food service employee for the past ten years and Opaa!'s Director of Nutrition Services for the Southern Boone County R-I School District for the past school year. Kathy and her husband Robert are residents of Ashland. Their children are Sarah, a sophomore at the College of the Ozarks; Zachary, a senior at Southern Boone County; and Jessie, an eighth grader in Southern Boone County. In her spare time, Kathy says that she enjoys "family stuff", reading and going to beach locations.
In presenting the award, Middleton recalled how hard Kathy had worked from the very first day of school to achieve her goals. Kathy charted the district's participation daily and was able to get her staff excited about the daily numbers they were generating. Middleton stated that Kathy's positive attitude and leadership style was instrumental in making Opaa!'s transition into the school district a smooth one.
Kathy supervises three serving sites in the Southern Boone County R-I School District. Kathy said, "receiving the award was awesome and something I feel very honored to receive. Making it to the President's Circle in our first year was a huge goal that was an achievement both for myself and the awesome lunch ladies in the school district. We challenged ourselves and together as a team we made it. Now we have set our goals higher and hope to continue to improve our service to our staff, our kids and our district as a whole."
Opaa! Food Management, Inc., is based in Chesterfield, Missouri, and is entering its 28th year of operation. Opaa! currently operates the nutrition programs for 52 Missouri school districts and has been serving the nutritional requirements of the Southern Boone County R-I School District since the beginning of school last year.
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