Ogden School District Nutrition Supervisor

The national, non-profit School Nutrition Association (SNA) has named Amy Woolsey, SNS, Child Nutrition Supervisor for Ogden School District, Utah, the Southwest region Director of the Year. The award recognizes the extraordinary contributions of school nutrition directors who manage effective school meal programs providing healthy, appetizing meals to students.

Amy Woolsey has significantly enhanced the child nutrition program in her district, emphasizing customer service with students and colleagues to create positive cafeteria and work environments. Those efforts resulted in increased student meal program participation and higher retention rates for cooks and other staff.

Woolsey was instrumental in correcting financial reports, saving the district tens of thousands of dollars, and she played a key role in helping two districts plan and build central warehouses to be more self-sufficient and better meet critical needs efficiently.

Attuned to helping those in the community, Woolsey helped develop a food rescue program where schools saved some food that normally would be thrown away to distribute to families and individuals in need. In conjunction with Utah’s Department of Agriculture, she recently helped coordinate a Farm-to-Fork workshop to unite a diverse group of stakeholders in child nutrition, including parents, teachers, staff and local producers.

In addition to supporting robust employee training programs, Woolsey is updating the new employee orientation and onboarding process to help team members be more confident and successful when they start working in school kitchens. Woolsey can often be seen filling in for others during staff shortages and her positive attitude and work ethic on the serving line uplifts those around her. She leads by example and no job is too small for her.

“Amy takes great pride in her work, and her dedication to the district and students is unmatched,” said Chris Derico, SNS, School Nutrition Association President. “She took it upon herself to become a ServSafe instructor so she could provide better training for her staff and offers the test in English and Spanish to help some staff members feel more comfortable when testing.”

Woolsey served as president for Utah SNA during the challenging time of the pandemic. She helped connect members with trainings when they couldn't meet in person and was instrumental in helping to get the state conference and other meetings back on track in person. She chose to stay involved after her term expired by volunteering to be a School Nutrition Foundation ambassador and works on creative ways to help raise funds to support the foundation’s mission.

The Director of the Year Award was created to recognize school nutrition directors who exhibit an extraordinary commitment to their school meal programs. The directors are responsible for maintaining the quality of the program through student interaction, menu planning and a commitment to serving nutritious, tasty and well-balanced school meals. Through effective oversight of all aspects of food service operations, including budgeting, staffing, training, marketing and community outreach, school nutrition directors ensure the overall success of school meal programs.

Woolsey was announced as the Southwest region Director of the Year during an online awards ceremony on April 30 in advance of School Lunch Hero Day, celebrated on May 3, 2024, to honor all of America’s dedicated school nutrition professionals. The accomplishments of Woolsey and all SNA award winners will also be highlighted in a special digital publication and promoted in SNA's annual Hero Day social media campaign on Facebook.com/TrayTalk and TrayTalk.org.

About School Nutrition Association:

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) is a national, non-profit professional organization representing 50,000 school nutrition professionals across the country. Founded in 1946, SNA and its members are dedicated to making healthy school meals and nutrition education available to all students. For more information on school meals, visit www.SchoolNutrition.org/SchoolMeals.