Albuquerque Public Schools
Highlighting the Heroes Who Provide 77,000 Meals a Day
In her weekly message to staff, Superintendent Blakey recognizes Food and Nutrition Services for all they do for our students.
Today is School Lunch Hero Day, making this the perfect time to highlight the fantastic work done by Sandra Kemp, our very own school lunch hero, and her incredible team.
Sandy is the executive director of Food and Nutrition Services at APS and her department serves millions of meals to kids every year. Last year, the department served more than 9.6 million meals and more than 1 million afterschool snacks.
Food and Nutrition Services is one of those departments that flies under the radar because it’s efficient and gets the job done. We don’t think about all that goes into providing 32,000 breakfasts and 45,000 lunches every day because Sandy is on top of it.
Those of you who know Sandy know how dedicated she is and how hard she works. She makes sure we’re providing healthy meals to our students. And she’s gone out of her way to incorporate local fruits and vegetables, something that is good for the environment, good for local farmers and good for our kids.
Put simply, she’s a superstar in her field, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The New Mexico School Nutrition Association has just selected Sandy as director of the year, the second time she’s earned the honor. Last year, she was featured on a box of Wheaties after being selected by General Mills as one of its Tray Blazers. The honor is given to those who go above and beyond to feed kids in their community by “thinking big and taking action.”
Sandy genuinely cares about our students and knows we all have the ability to make a difference in a child’s life. She knows the food her department provides is crucial to children being able to learn what they need to become successful.
I’ve known Sandy for quite a while, so I can safely say she won’t be happy with me for highlighting her. She’ll be the first to point out her entire staff deserves the credit. While she’s right that the entire Food and Nutrition Services staff is terrific, Sandy also deserves to be recognized for all she does.
She’s worked at APS for 25 years and during that time has earned a reputation as someone who gets the job done, no matter what it takes. Through her actions, she inspires her team to go above and beyond for kids.
So to Sandy and her army of school lunch heroes, I say thank you. Thank you for your hard work. And thank you for the great meals you provide to our kids each and every day.
The work you do is important and plays a crucial role in our journey to improve outcomes for all of our kids.
That’s it for now. Enjoy the weekend, everyone.