The new residential district manager for Chartwells hit the ground running, already making plans to fully implement changes that Lawton Public Schools’ new food services program will bring to students.

Steven Johnson began his new job the week of Aug. 17, assuming on-site administrative duties that will guide the transition from long-time vendor Sodexo. The Board of Education approved the new contract earlier this year, with Chartwells taking over food services July 1.

That transition means Chartwells will provide a residential manager and district executive chef (Verna Alger will remain the district’s child nutrition coordinator). While Johnson is new to Chartwells, he has a background in food services through a fast food franchise that allows him to understand the effort needed.

“I wanted to be in child nutrition,” Johnson said, explaining why he transitioned from fast food to child nutrition.

Johnson said he wanted something different in life, something he could help grow. Chartwells gave him that, an opportunity that came along at the right time. Johnson prayed over his decision before deciding God was providing a wide open door he needed to enter.

“It was a new chapter, being new to child nutrition,” he said.

He also is comfortable in Southwest Oklahoma.

Johnson, who grew up in Del City, lives in the Blanchard/Chickasha area with his wife (a second-grade teacher) and the couple’s three children, ages 13, 10 and 2. Johnson said his oldest children give him insight into child nutrition needs at the lower grade levels, adding with a laugh that he’s still a little intimidated by students at the high school level.

Johnson’s staff members have begun the transition to what students and staff will enjoy.

The immediate goal is getting everything in place, a process Johnson predicts will be complete in 90 days. He said while schools are now working off previously-set menus, LPS students will be eating from menus set by Chartwells beginning Sept. 14.

Johnson said his staff will remain focused on child nutrition, ensuring the needs of all students are met. He said while cafeteria meals may not be a big deal for some students, it has a decided impact on others.

“Not everyone is as fortunate,” he said, of students who have plenty of nutritious food to eat.

Chartwells emphasizes made-from scratch, meaning its meals are similar to what many children eat at home. That’s why meal prep returned to school kitchens, rather than occurring at the district’s child nutrition center, then carried to schools.

The nutrition center located west of Eisenhower Middle School is now the district’s nutrition administrative office. While the commercial kitchen remains operational, “no one is in it,” Johnson said. The kitchen will be used only on special occasions (one school couldn’t use its kitchen because of renovations, so student meals were prepared in the center’s kitchen).

“There will be a lot more options,” Johnson said, of Chartwell offerings that will continue to provide “fun” options such as pizza and hamburgers, but also made-from-scratch entrees and sides, as well as services such as meal carts to take food to students in places other than their school cafeteria. That is calculated to discourage high school students from leaving campus to grab fast food.

“There will be more selections,” Johnson said.

Students also will be a bigger part of the process in determining what will be served.

“We want to be open to what is popular,” he said, explaining the district will move away from what is easy to prepare toward what students really want to eat.

Chartwells also offers programs such as Discovery Kitchen (the company’s way of introducing students to new foods and flavors) and Student Choice (taste-tests by students, to find things to add to the menu). The company will be adding a district executive chef within weeks to handle meal preparation oversight.

On-going discussions with district administrators and school principals are designed to identify issues, from hiring personnel and ordering food, to planning menus.

“The whole structure,” Johnson said, adding students can expect to see an entirely different program within a few weeks.

Some kitchens are being renovated to ensure they have room to cook and to store an increased amount of food, while elementary schools saw freezers added over the summer.

“We’ll be storing more products at the schools,” he said of on-site food prep.

Chartwells administrators also are experimenting with staffing, to ensure there is the correct number of people in each school kitchen. Many will be familiar to students and staff – Johnson said most of the district’s Sodexo employees stayed to work for Chartwells.

“I am here and willing to do whatever it takes. I want to be a listening ear,” Johnson said, explaining he wants to identify and solve problems. “I want this to be a better experience by the end of the year.”