Robin Proffit does more than cook at Clearbrook-Gonvick

by Bonnie Kirchman

“I used to just come and cook and go home,” is how Robin Proffit describes her beginnings as the Food Service Director at Clearbrook-Gonvick School. Robin grew up in Gonvick and graduated from Clearbrook-Gonvick in 1997. In 2007, she started as head cook for the district, a position that has, for Robin, developed into much more than just cooking and going home.

“The kids are the number one reason I truly love my job, that’s why I am so passionate about what I do,” Robin said of her job. She is responsible for all the food served in the school. This includes everything from the concession stand to the healthy after-school snacks given to the elementary basketball players. It also includes special school day events like a senior class meal and an outdoor cook-out enjoyed by the entire school each spring. 

When hiring, Robin looks for special people who want to work with kids.

“They have to love the kids-that’s crucial,” Robin says of the food service staff members who help her prepare and serve food every day. Her staff of four include Mike Lindgren, Melynda Zurhorst, Danielle Derby, and Janelle Maxie. In addition, Elsie Ballard works during the mealtimes to enter students’ meal charges into the computer.

Robin carefully plans breakfast and lunch menus for the students and staff. This is not a matter of just deciding what foods might go together well or taste good to students. There are many federal rules to follow. Five components-a meat, grain, fruit, vegetable, and milk must be served at each lunch. Even then, it can’t be just any item that fits one of the food categories. Vegetables must be varied to include certain numbers of dark green, red, and orange vegetables. Only limited amounts of starchy vegetables may be served.  The calories and sodium in each meal must also be watched. Three different age groups have different nutritional requirements; so a first-grader’s meal is not the same as a high-school student’s meal.

In addition to being careful, Robin must also be flexible. To help her follow the complex regulations, Robin creates 32 different spreadsheets to chart out the 4-week cycle of menus. If something changes on the menu, for example if the apples she ordered are unavailable, she needs to go back to her spreadsheets and make adjustments.

 In addition to the spreadsheets, Robin also needs to produce a recipe for each item on the menu that has two or more ingredients, even something as basic as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

On top of all the rules and regulations, Robin needs to plan and prepare meals that cost less than $3.00 per lunch. Her goal is for her nutrition program to be financially self-sustaining. This requires careful planning and shopping. The two major challenges Robin faces when buying food are price and availability. Robin orders groceries twice a week to help ensure that fruits and vegetables are fresh. She also receives milk orders twice a week. 

Robin makes sure the students get the nutritious fruits and vegetables they need by providing a free salad bar to each student who purchases a lunch. The salad bar includes lettuce, four types of raw vegetables, and a canned and a fresh fruit. Robin varies the fruits and vegetables according to what is available.

“Nutrition is so important to kids’ learning. Our main goal here is serving them healthy breakfasts and lunches,” Robin stated. She knows that all the careful planning, shopping, and preparation of food doesn’t help if the kids won’t eat it. Making sure that meals are appealing to the kids so they accept and eat the food offered is essential. 

Both students and staff indicate that Robin is successful at this. Principal Carl Dugstad, “I would say that Robin has ruined other school lunches for me. Her lunches are the best!”

While working with the kids is Robin’s favorite part of the job, paperwork is the part she least enjoys. There is so much paperwork that it takes a state reviewer three days to go over all of it with Robin. Besides the menus and recipes, there are monthly meal claims required for federal and state funding. She needs to monitor the lunch account balances, the free and reduced lunch program and complete the requirements for receiving commodities. And she has to stay on top of the many changes to federal and state rules that apply to her work.

When it comes to the paperwork, Robin gets help from school business manager Paula Boomgaarden.

 Robin says, “I am left-handed, and Paula is the right hand. We work well together.”

Paula says of Robin, “She is very aware of the cost of running an effective food service department. She always plans her meals to not only be enjoyable, but to be cost effective.”

The paperwork does not keep Robin from spending time with the kids. She introduces new foods to the students, holding taste-testing sessions with samples of watermelon, green and red peppers, or kohlrabi. Robin also provides afterschool programs for students, and these have been well-received.

“Robin is a great team leader and the special events she runs like the cookie decorating are so valuable for our school,” Principal Dugstad stated.

Paula Boomgaarden added, “Robin encourages her staff to take an active role in our District. You often see the entire team actively involved in after-school cooking activities. Our last event had over 60 elementary participants. They had a wonderful time, and took home boxes of goodies to share with their families.” 

The Clearbrook-Gonvick food service staff care about the children. They show this care through the Backpack Program and the Angel Care Program. In the backpack program, children receive food for weekends and holidays. The staff hope this will help maintain their nutritional needs when they are not in school.

Through the Angel Care Program, Robin works with families who are struggling to pay for their students’ school meals. This program allows her to create a plan with the families to help them get caught up on their lunch payments. Her staff gets involved in this program by helping to plan and carry out a special Angel Care fundraiser. This year’s event was scheduled for February 11th and plans included a potato klub supper. Robin and her crew have also gathered over 90 baskets, with items including signed Vikings jerseys, a 49-inch television, a lap-top and much, much, more that was raffled off at the event.

Robin’s passion for her job and her abilities in the kitchen are noticed by students and staff alike. But her dedication to the job has also been recognized at the state level. In 2018, Robin was named a “School Lunch Hero”, one of three such awards given out by the Minnesota Department of Education.

Debra Lukkonen, Supervisor for School Nutrition Program with the Minnesota Department of Education described the award as being for “school nutrition staff who stretch that extra mile to go above and beyond expectations.”

And Robin describes the past year as “amazing”. She was nominated to attend a “Produce Safety University”, an all-expense paid learning experience in Denver. She spent five days learning about produce, how to serve it safely, how it is graded, how to order and when each fruit or vegetable is available.

At the end of October, Robin was one of 16 school food service managers from around the country who were chosen to travel to an “Institute of Child Nutrition” held in Mississippi. At this event, participants developed a training program for kitchen assistants.

Recognitions aside, Robin’s main source of satisfaction is that the students know her name and know that she cares about them. 

Jeff Burgess, school superintendent, summed up the feelings of the school community: “Robin is an exceptionally hard worker and is a valued member of our staff. I can always count on her to do her best for the kids and staff at Clearbrook-Gonvick. Whether it’s amazing breakfasts and lunches, concession stand goodies, or one of the many after school activities, Robin does her best. Clearbrook-Gonvick is very lucky to have her and the rest of the kitchen staff.”