State recognizes Los Gatos, Saratoga high schools for ‘Edible Learning’
Cafeteria program emphasizes nutrition, student wellness.
Award for ‘Edible Learning’
The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District won a 2023 Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association for its food service program.
In 2019, Los Gatos High School assistant principal Kristi Grasty worked with chef Paul Boundas, owner of Country House Kitchen, to create a plan that would improve the school cafeteria model while enhancing student nutrition and providing a pathway for nutrition-related education. The resulting program, “Edible Learning: Transforming School Cafeterias into Wellness Communities,” was successfully replicated at Saratoga High School.
Serving over 1,000 meals a day, both schools’ cafeterias offer breakfasts and lunches created entirely from scratch, ditching the traditional heat-and-serve method. Because fresh ingredients are more cost-effective than their frozen counterparts, the district also went from spending 55% of its cafeteria budget on food to spending 33% in the 2022-23 school year.
“The cafeteria transformation in the past four years has provided such unprecedented results for our district that could be duplicated by any district in California,” Superintendent Bill W. Sanderson said in a statement. “Students want to eat in our cafeterias. They are receiving healthier meals, learning about nutritional science and applying real sustainable agricultural practices.”
The district will be honored on Nov. 30 at a reception and ceremony during the California School Boards Association’s annual Education Conference and Tradeshow in San Francisco.
Inspired students
Students from both campuses in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District were recognized Oct. 17 for participating in the development of the district’s strategic plan. The board approved the first two phases of the plan, dubbed We INSPIRE!, at that meeting.
The students were members of the Strategic Plan Design Team, which solicited input from a broad-based stakeholder group about the development and implementation of the strategic plan. Student team members from Los Gatos High School were sophomore Prav Balasingam and junior Amitis Hakimi.