Inclement Weather Procedures

Mexico 59 School District has several options available when mother nature brings the winter snow. Please see the Inclement Weather Procedures document by clicking here. 

New food service director adds variety to school cafeterias

     When Sarah Creech moved to Mexico and took the job as Food Service Director at the Mexico Public Schools, she had never heard of a turkey turnover.

“I had never even tasted a turkey turnover until I moved here,” Creech said. “It was completely foreign to me. But I immediately heard over and over that it was a favorite.”

The crowd-pleasing entree is served approximately six times a year in the school cafeterias. Other items, however, have changed since Creech moved to Mexico and accepted her job Oct. 1.

Creech said the biggest challenge of her new position is balancing the multiple aspects of the job. She identified keeping up with changing state and federal guidelines, working with the budget, managing the kitchens, and planning menus as four of her key duties.

Deciding what food to offer to students, which Creech considers the backbone of her job, is one of her most complex jobs. “I start by looking at previous menus, one week at a time and then at each day. I make sure the day's and the week's menus meet the guidelines.”

Creech also looks at participation by the students. “I analyze per menu item, and by how many students we had eating on that day at all the schools,” she said. “I am trying to omit or add items until we have the near-perfect six week cycle of menus. It's been a fine-tuning process to find the best combination.”

Creech has mixed repeating existing meal plans with adding some new items. She said her most popular new items are the berry banana splits and the chicken caesar salad wraps. The berry banana split consists of a banana cut in half with blueberries, vanilla yogurt and granola.

Another change is planned for the high school breakfast menu this spring. The snack bar will not open prior to lunch, but several new items will be available in the breakfast line. Creech has arranged for the temporary installation of a Jamba Juice machine. Four ounces of the product, which comes in several flavors such as wild berry and strawberry banana, will come on every tray, along with a protein or grain item and milk. The new item will be available at least three days a week at first.

“Jamba Juice is a great product,” Creech said. “It is frozen fruit juice similar to a smoothie but with no milk or added ice.” If the product is popular with students, larger portions will be available for purchase during lunch.

Creech says she will have 90 days, during which the machine is being loaned to the school district free of charge, to decide if the juice is a worthy addition to the school food program. As always, she has to consider the cost in making the decision.

For lunch, one of the most popular changes has been the refinement of the salad bars at the Middle School and High School. “We serve either a spring mix or a mix of iceberg and romaine lettuce and a protein, and then the students can dress their salads with a variety of other items,” Creech said. “We have specialty salads such as chef's salad, oriental chicken and southwest salad. I was excited to see that the salad bar has gone over well, and at the Middle School it is the second most popular bar behind the nacho bar.” Other bar choices during the week are sandwich, taco and potato bar.

Some menu items, of course, such as chicken tenders and pizza appear on a near-weekly basis. Popular vegetables such as corn and green beans also frequently repeat.

Creech said she is pleased with the changes made so far, and thinks she has an overall grasp of the total job. “I am constantly looking at new things and new ideas,” she said. “We are in the planning stage of lots of ideas.”

One of the changes, however, will not be to the turkey turnovers. “Four out of the five school's cafeteria workers told me the turkey turnover was the most popular item. More adults eat on turnover day than any other day.”

While the turnovers are labor intensive, requiring parts of three days to make them completely from scratch by cooking the turkeys, grinding the meat, preparing the dough, assembling and baking, they are here to stay. Next appearance in the menu rotation: Feb. 9.

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If you are new to the district please contact your school's administrative office or call the district office at 573.581.3773. Enrollment forms may be found by clicking here.

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Access to your student's schedule, attendance, lunch balance, grades, homework and daily bulletins are currently available. The signed agreement form must be turned in to one of the buildings, and then the information entered in the system for your access to begin. You will receive an e-mail from SISK12 with directions on how to access your account. The subject line will say: Parent/Student Portal Account Information.

The Parent Portal will be found under the Parent & Students menu above Please communicate to your student's building if you experience any problems accessing your student's records.

The Mission...

of the Mexico Public Schools is to foster in each student:

·         a positive self-image,

·         critical and creative thinking skills,

·         responsible citizenship,

·         a dedicated work ethic, and

·         adaptability in a changing technological society

Each student will have at his or her command a specific grade level body of knowledge.