Benefits All Around: The Advantages of Student Interns
Everybody has a list of tasks they’d like to accomplish when time and conditions are perfect, and this is especially true in school nutrition departments. No one is disputing the time and financial limitations felt by this branch of foodservice: Many directors have long lists of projects they’d like to accomplish and implement, but few ways to tackle them. One resource that has proven effective in getting these tasks done are dietetic students serving internships.
Interns offer more than helpful labor opportunities. In the article “Temporary Staff; Lasting Impact,” published in the March edition of School Nutrition, and written by Senior Editor Beth Roessner, the article discusses interesting and unique projects interns are able to accomplish during their rotations. Interns are no longer simply going for coffee runs and making copies: Dietetic interns serving in school nutrition departments are developing real-world career and leadership skills. From the implementation of mobile meal carts to leading staff trainings, dietetic interns can cross off many items from that growing to-do list.
When students intern at school nutrition departments they are gaining valuable skills and insights into a profession that may not have otherwise been accessible. And the benefits aren’t simply one sided to the interns—school nutrition departments benefit, too. Still not convinced of the importance of working with and mentoring these young and budding dietitians? Here are just a few ways how hosting interns are beneficial for all stakeholders involved.
Not A Typical Internship
Barb Bumgardner, SNS, puts her interns to work right from day one. They’ve helped her implement plate waste studies, decorate the cafeteria and write grants.
“Two years ago, I had unexpected surgery and it took a little while to get back in the groove,” explains Bumgardner, food service director at Middleton (Idaho) School District. In her absence, the current intern at the time worked with staff and took on a lot of responsibilities. “One of the first days I came back, he had made himself right at home at my desk and on my computer.”
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The intern was a bit mortified for being at her desk, explains Bumgardner, but she reiterated to him how needed he was. “They can take a lot off,” says Bumgardner, “and you know it’s going to be taken care of.”
All sources interviewed agree: From day one, interns are treated like regular staff, which helps build credibility with both the intern and the staff. From working the serving line to cooking up lunches, to leading staff trainings to attending managerial meetings, an internship in a school nutrition department will be action packed and provide lasting, real-world experiences.
The experiences gained in the department will be unique to the foodservice sector and will be much different in comparison with a dietetic student’s clinical or community nutrition internship rotations. (Especially for a dietetic student completing their foodservice management rotation at a hospital.)
“Yes, they’re here to learn, but the best way for them to learn is for them to do,” says Cindy Culver, MS, RDN, LD, and director of school nutrition at Marietta City (GA) School District. And because she gives them actual responsibilities from the first day, the interns have a better and more satisfying experience. “The best value to you, the preceptor, and to the intern is to make sure they’re having fun by doing real work. And they appreciate that. They feel valued.”
“It’s a unique opportunity for someone to have a rotation with a school district and in school foodservice,” explains Whitney Ellersick, MS, RDN, assistant director at Portland (OR) Public Schools.
Bridge the Staffing Gap
Five years ago, April Mackill’s first intern came at a very interesting time. She was a brand-new director and didn’t have much rapport with her staff. The graduate student intern helped bridge that divide. (Mackill was also the same age as the intern.)
“I was having intense staffing difficulties because it was my first year,” explains Mackill, director at Plumas (Calif.) Elementary School District. “We had a lot of modernizations to do in terms of our training regimen and that intern was a huge blessing. The intern provided me a good in as to why we needed to change our training regimen.”
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Mackill approached her staff from the standpoint that the intern was there to help them. Working together, the staff were able to formulate a list of projects and Mackill could focus on goal setting with her team. And the intern helped with the modernization efforts.
That first intern organized freezers, picked up orders, helped staff utilize order guides and much more. “Because she was an intern, the people who she was working with were more accepting of her coming and being the young person telling them what to do versus me coming in as the young person telling them what to do,” says Mackill. Staff were able to teach the intern about their jobs and subsequently their job performance improved.
“The internship gave me a really good footing to be able to build those relationships with my staff that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It helped me bridge that gap,” Mackill says.
The Career Path Less Traveled On
As they attend staff meetings, manage projects, advocate for quality meals and lead trainings, dietic interns fully learn the demands of the school nutrition director. Many interns, it was agreed, believed that a school-based dietitian simply wrote menus.
“As a dietitian, there is a thought that you’re wouldn’t be a ‘dietitian’ if you’re doing this work,” explains Ellersick. “It’s definitely a shift in thinking.”
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Prior to interning with the school nutrition department, the role of the school dietitian was not fully understood. Not only did many dietetic students not realize what the job encompassed, but many did not know the career path was even available.
Even though a school-based dietitian is not implementing tube feeding or guiding a patient through a specific meal plan, they are still using every skill they have, expands Ellersick. Menu planning, food purchasing, adult learning, behavior changes, kitchen layout, ethics, leadership and more are all skills implemented by a school-based dietitian daily.
“The interns are always amazed at the scope of our operation,” explains Sarah Chellberg, food service director at Raymore-Peculiar (Mo.) School District. “Everybody thinks it’s just lunch time at a school and lunch appears on the tray. They have no idea the regulations behind it, how the food even gets there and all the planning.”
During her dietetic rotation in 1996, Chellberg interned at Blue Valley (Kan.) School District under Sandy Ford, who was president of the School Nutrition Association in 2012-2013. Because of Ford’s guidance, Chellberg chose a career in school nutrition.
Through her schooling, Chellberg realized she was more comfortable with management-related tasks than clinical tasks. And it felt full-circle that she was teaching children about the importance of nutrition, after she herself had a huge passion for it during her high school years.
“They begin to understand from a manager’s perspective how a program works,” says Chellberg. “They need to know what directors go through on a daily basis.”
The profession also benefits from the increased exposure as it becomes an additional way to change the perception of school meals. Even if a dietetic intern does not choose a profession in school foodservice, they are at least aware of the industry.
Words of Wisdom
If you’re interested in bringing interns into your school nutrition department, take the advice of other directors and dietitians who have been working with them for years.
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• “If you see them as a colleague and give them real assignments and real work, you’re in benefit ten-fold from the knowledge that they gain. Think of it as an opportunity for your program to grow.” Cindy Culver, MS, RDN, LD, Director of School Nutrition at Marietta City (GA) School District
• “Think of the intern has a new manager that can help you complete projects that you need done, that can participate in discussions and make them more rich.” Whitney Ellersick, MS, RDN, Assistant Director at Portland (OR) Public Schools
• “You have to evaluate them. You have the guide them. It is work.” Janice Watt, SNS, Director of Food Service at Foxborough (Mass.) Public Schools
• “They are not your sub.” Donna Pittenger, Director at Katy (Texas) ISD
• “Be open. It does take your time and effort to work with them. But remember: We all had to learn., and we were grateful for the mentors and the folks that were willing and able to take the time to sit down and teach. Mentoring is one of the great things that we can do for any profession.” Nancy Rice, M.Ed, RDN, LD, SNS, State Director at Georgia Department of Education
• “Some interns completely sit back and are nervous to get their hands dirty. Some of them just want to go in and overhaul everything.” Parisa Mohammad, MDA, RD, SNS, Nutrition Specialist at Murrieta Valley (Calif.) Unified School District
• “We tell our interns up front that our goal for them is to fall in love with school nutrition.” Beverly Girard, PhD, MBA, RD, SNS, Director of School Nutrition at Sarasota County (Fla.) Schools