Offering options

This week’s lunch menu at Jay County Junior-Senior High School: student choice.

The school is participating in Student Choice, a program offered through food service Chartwells that allows students to select a new food type to add to their daily lunch line.

During lunch the last three days, students sampled food options with three different concepts. Today they voted for their favorite option, which will soon be added to the line as an alternative to the main meal.

Chartwells regional chef Brandon McCarthy explained Student Choice was first introduced in 2019. Jay Schools participated in the program in February 2020, but amid the coronavirus pandemic its return was put on hold until this year.

“It came out really hot, and it’s been really popular ever since,” said McCarthy. “It’s my favorite event we have like this.”

Jennifer Gelhaus, a JCHS graduate, took over as director of food service for Jay School Corporation in December. The registered dietitian previously worked at Morrison Healthcare Food Services in Jeffersonville. As soon as she learned about the Student Choice program, she said, the wheels started turning.

“I just feel like kids getting to choose the concepts, kids getting to have a voice, it’s huge,” she said.

Student council members became involved in the process in January. They selected three food concepts out of a list provided by Chartwells for students to test this week: Bok Choy, Mac and Cheesy Ology and Butcher and Baker.

Instead of offering specific meals, a concept allows them to offer a rotating variety of meals within a theme, explained Gelhaus.

“We might be doing a barbecue chicken today, but tomorrow we’re doing popcorn chicken, and the next day we might be doing a buffalo chicken and some different toppings to go with it just so that it stays fresh and exciting still, because if we offered the exact same things every day then it kind of becomes mundane,” she said.

“I like to think of it as a popup restaurant,” she added. “You can go to that restaurant and it’s still going to be within in that same cuisine but it’s going to be different items within that cuisine.”

This week, “Boy Choy” consisted of fried rice, General Tso’s chicken, bulgogi Korean beef, sweet and spicy green beans and sesame ginger roasted carrots.

“Mac and Cheesy Ology” combined items such as barbecue chicken or popcorn chicken with cheesy pasta. “Butcher and Baker,” served today, provided sandwich options with fresh bread, deli meats and toppings.

Students were given the opportunity to test a full meal through the lunch line or stop by a sample table for a small taste.

Hannah Boggs, a junior and member of student council, noted they tried to look for concepts that would appeal to a majority of the student body. She served samples during lunch Wednesday.

“Everyone’s been fairly eager to try it,” she said.

Students cast votes for their favorite option around noon today using their phones. The votes were broadcast live on TVs around the lunchroom. After results from all three lunch periods were tallied, the students’ choice was set to be announced at the end of the school day.

“(This) was 100% driven by the students,” said Gelhaus. “We’re just providing the tools and the resources to execute it and to do it.”