Food service industry veteran Kevin Callahan thought he would retire and drive a school bus for his home district of Warrensburg. Superintendent Amy Langworthy had other plans! Meet Kevin Callahan, our WCSD Food Service Director. New to the Food Service Department, Callahan started with the district on July 1. His improvements to school meals has already elicited positive feedback from students and staff.
Before joining Warrensburg CSD, Callahan was the Director of Syracuse University’s Middlebrook Conference Center in Blue Mountain Lake. A resident of Warrensburg, Callahan is very familiar with the district. His three daughters graduated from Warrensburg High School and his wife is a former school board member, so when WCSD’s Superintendent Amy Langworthy came to the facility, they struck up a conversation. Callahan was ready to become a bus driver for the school in his district, but Langworthy had a different idea. With over 40 years of experience in the food industry, he was the perfect candidate to run Food Services and oversee the district bringing on Capital Region BOCES as the food provider.
Under Callahan’s direction, our Food Services team and Capital Region BOCES have worked together to bring diverse and quality whole foods to our schools. The cafeteria in the high school now has a popular salad bar that gives students access to a variety of vegetables, different proteins, pasta salad, and garlic bread sticks. In the elementary school, the team set up three locations where students can get “grab-and-go” breakfast before heading to their classrooms. The Community Eligibility Provision program allows qualifying students to receive breakfast and lunch without any cost to them.
“It is rewarding after a busy day when you walk by a classroom and can see everyone in there eating,” shared Callahan.
Callahan and his team arrive at the schools at 6 a.m. They immediately begin to assemble breakfasts for the incoming students. At the elementary school, they serve an average of 250 breakfasts each morning and at the high school, about 125. After each student has received breakfast, the team jumps into their lunch prep. They serve about 250 lunches in the elementary school and 220 in the high school. After the lunch periods have ended, there is time for clean-up and any prep that needs to be completed for the next day. It is an action-packed shift!
Callahan says it is the people that make the difference at Warrensburg. He says he is impressed by the students’ and staff members’ dedication to education.
Looking to the future, Callahan is working to add more staff to the food services team so they can focus on batch-cooking and implementing grab-and-go breakfast stations in the high school. He is also working with the building principals to set up student committees that will give students the opportunity to plan meals alongside the staff.
Our Staff Spotlight series is a celebration of our amazing staff members who go above and beyond for our students and community. We ask that students, coworkers, and other members of the community nominate a faculty member for Staff Spotlight. Each month, one nominee will be selected and interviewed, and their stories will be shared with you here! Do you know someone who should be spotlighted? Nominate them for our Staff Spotlight using the form linked here.