September, 2011

HERE’S WHAT’S COOKIN’ 1 2011 Leadership Ratreat Huge Success KEVIN’S KORNER 2 HUMAN RESOURCES 2 President’s Circle Winners CORE VALUES 2 RETREAT WINNERS 3 MEET OUR GROWERS 4 SAFTEY TRIP WINNERS 5 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 5 CHILDREN’S HEALTH 6 SAFETY 7 DISTRICT HIGHLIGHTS 8 CONTACT US 8 RECIPE OF THE MONTH 8 THE OPAA! PROMISE 8

2011 Leadership Retreat Huge Success! By: Craig Cohen

Opaa! held its annual Leadership Retreat on July 18th – 22nd at the Embassy Suites in St. Charles, Missouri, with about 120 company leaders in attendance for this year’s event. The retreat is a mix of developmental workshops to build skills; and team building activities to enhance the sense of family and promote the sharing of best

practices. Surveys completed by the attendees indicated that this year’s meeting was a HUGE success and very valuable to the participants.

The team building events included:

A welcome reception hosted by the leadership team. Representatives from our Platinum level sponsors – Springfield Grocers, Duke Manufacturing, Prairie Farms, General Mills, RBOPrintLogistix, Sara Lee, and Schwan’s – were on hand to mingle with the Opaa! crowd.

The annual Awards Banquet, which celebrated the accomplishments of many Opaa! leaders.

The 2nd annual Trivia Night, hosted by the Home Office. Each trivia team came in costume and decorated their table. This was a huge hit and preparations are already underway for the 3rd annual event.

The development workshops included: Six specific job-related topics, facilitated by Opaa! leaders. A participation building workshop, featuring successful

approaches in the words of the Directors who implemented them. A “Building Employee Engagement” workshop, based upon the

book The Three Signs of a Miserable Job.

The retreat ended with a bang, featuring a pep rally where each region or team performed a cheer or a song, based upon the retreat themes.

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To the Opaa! Team, The beginning of the school year is always a time of e x c i t e m e n t a n d anticipation. So many things to do – kitchens to clean and open; children and adults to feed; team members to hire, train and develop;

and the many unforeseen events! Our attitude is critical to the outcome of all of the many things we must achieve. If we choose to think positive thoughts…we will get positive results; if we think negative thoughts…we’ll get negative results. It is up to each of us to decide. Walt Disney said, “Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.” This view of customer service is so straight forward and applies to the way we should prepare and serve meals to students and adults every day - great quality and with warm hospitality. What each of us does at Opaa! impacts the lives of so many people, each and every day. A fantastic opportunity? A huge burden? It is up to each of us to decide. I am one of the most fortunate people I know. Why? I have the honor and opportunity to lead a terrific group of team members – over 1,600 strong – that provide a vital service to over 110,000 children every day. The dedication of Opaa!’s team members, and your commitment to our core values, makes me proud. I wish each of you a terrific school year. Opaa!

Kevin

Opaa! Celebrates Success of Directors

Congratulations goes out to the President’s Circle winners for the 2010-2011 School Year. These Directors met stringent goal targets within their district set forth by Opaa!. The winners are:

Dawn Peak– Paris Joyce Pierce– Hayti Kim Dixon– Winona Tina Barns– Palmyra Connie Fuwell– Puxico Jane Saxton– Clark Co Marita Harris– Fayette Tylene Watkins– Moberly Millie Norman– Hamilton Becky Morton– Lexington Kerri Cleaver– Van Buren Suzie Hoeflicker– Lafayette Phyllis Schaefer– Clinton R-3 Beth Brooks– McCoy– Centralia

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Opaa! Presents Awards to Employees at Annual Retreat Each year, Opaa! recognizes outstanding performance at the annual retreat. This past summer, Opaa! presented the following awards: New DNS of the Year, DNS of the Year, Marketing Award, RDO of the Year, Kitchen Manager of the Year, and the Whatever It Takes Award. Please join us in congratulating these employees!

The New DNS of the Year award is earned by a DNS with less than one year of service with Opaa! and who has achieved the majority of the goals set for our directors. This year’s winner is Tanya Turner from East Carter S c h o o l D i s t r i c t . Congratulations Tanya!

To receive the DNS of the Year award, the director must have over one year of service with Opaa! and achieve strategic goals set for the district they serve. This year’s winner is Nicole Devlin from M o n t g o m e r y C o u n t y . Congratulations Nicole!

The RDO of the Year award is given to the Regional Director who has the highest cumulative goal achievement average of any region. This year’s winner is Dan Wolff. Dan just completed his first y e a r w i t h O p a a ! Congratulations Dan!

The Marketing Award recognizes excellence in the area of participation, as well as, creativity expressed through various promotions. This year’s award went to Nicole Devlin at Montgomery County! Congratulations, again, Nicole!

The Whatever It Takes award is bestowed on the Opaa! employee who embodies the “vision” of Opaa!, goes the extra mile, and takes ownership of their position. Nominated by her peers, district administration, and chosen by the executive committee, Becky Morton is this year’s recipient. Congratulations Becky!

The Kitchen Manager of the Year is selected from the r e g i o n a l w i n n e r s a n d recognizes excellence in leadership, quality, safety and initiative. This years winner is Gail Bess from Dexter. Congratulations Gail!

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Opaa! Celebrates Safety with Trips By: Wendy Petot Two winners we selected for the 2nd Semester Safety Trip drawing, as well as a Grand Prize Winner. Congratulations goes out to Evelyn Ridenhour of the Maries Co. School District, Gloria Bundy of the Scott City School District, and Melanie Meier of the Montgomery School District. Evelyn selected a trip to Branson, Mo. The trip included hotel accommodations at the Chateau on the Lake Resort. During her stay she was able to use up to $150 on dining options at the hotel. Evelyn also received $600 in spending cash to visit other area attractions. Evelyn said she had a wonderful time and she will never forget this trip.

Gloria selected a trip to Las Vegas, NV. Her trip included a flight to Las Vegas, hotel accommodations at the Bellagio, and $600 spending cash. Gloria had never been on a airplane before, but she said she was glad she picked that trip, because it was amazing! Opaa!’s Grand Prize Winner, Melanie Meier, selected a weekend away at the Lake of the Ozarks. This trip included accommodations at the Four Seasons Lodge, a couples massage, $200 in food credit, Breakfast 2 mornings, VIP turndown service, and Valet Parking. Melanie said she had a great time on her trip.

Sanders Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award By: Jane Luers During the annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 Robert Sanders was honored with the Opaa! Lifetime Achievement Award! This prestigious award is not given often or lightly. It is intended to recognize a team member who lives the Opaa! values, and one who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the growth and development of Opaa! as a company. There is certainly no one more deserving of this award than Robert Sanders. The actual presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award was not without a little “Opaa! fun!” President, Kevin Short, began the tribute with a trip down memory lane, complete with humorous tales of the past. Kevin ultimately turned the microphone over to Linda Jones and Larry Morgan, who continued to “roast” Robert by sharing some of their earlier experiences working with him. At the end of it all, Kevin Short commemorated Robert’s achievement with heartfelt thanks for his service, dedication, and camaraderie; and presented him with an engraved crystal award, along with a vintage red apron and Opaa! nametag! Congratulations, Robert! We are proud of you and are privileged to have the honor to work with you!

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Meet our Missouri Growers…..Bringing Locally Grown Fruits and Vegetables to Our Students! By: Linda Jones Opaa! students will enjoy Missouri Grown apples from Rasa Orchards in Lexington, Missouri again this school year. Rasa Orchard is a third generation family owned business that was started in 1922. Currently three Rasa brothers and their families, operate the orchard on 175 acres of beautiful rolling hills. Rasa began providing apples to Lafayette County Schools in 2009 and last year provided several varieties to all Opaa! schools. The variety of product offered has been a huge success with students and staff. Often when the Missouri season is finished our students will ask, “when we are going to get the good apples again?” It is almost that time again and our

students can’t wait! Hamra Farms is located in Stoddard County and is one of the newest Opaa! partners in providing Missouri grown product for our schools in Southeast Missouri. Hamra farms are family owned, and operate greenhouses in two locations, Bell City and Sikeston. Currently Hamra farms has 8 greenhouses in production amounting to 31,900 square feet of production. Last year we began our partnership with Hamra Farms purchasing fresh Hydroponic Bibb Lettuce and tomatoes for a limited number of schools in Southeast Missouri. Students and staff noticed the freshness and beauty of the crop, which is generally delivered within 24 hours of picking from the greenhouse to our school kitchens. This year, with a little co-operation from Mother Nature, plans are to provide Hamra Farms Bibb Lettuce and tomatoes to all Opaa! schools in Southeast Missouri on a weekly basis. The practice of hydroponic growing allows the growing season to continue through the winter months allowing delivery of fresh produce for most of the school year.

Fahrmeier Farms was started in 1947 as a diversified livestock and row crop farm in Lafayette County near Lexington, Missouri. The transition to a farm garden and greenhouse business began in 2001. It is truly a family farm with three generations hard at work to produce vegetables, fruits and flowers. Currently Fahrmeier has 2 acres of high tunnel production to extend the growing season and improve quality of the fruits and vegetables grown. Schools in Lafayette County were the first to enjoy the product from Fahrmeier Farms. The partnership with Fahrmeier and University of Missouri programs such as Farm Sprouts and Food from the Farm allow students the opportunity to visit the farm and gain understanding about food and food production. Many Opaa! Schools will enjoy fresh tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers from Fahrmeier Farms again this school year.

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Children’s Health: Overweight or Not It’s not always easy to tell if a child is overweight. Over the course of normal growth and development, a child’s body fat varies and his or her growth rate changes. However, it is important for your child’s health and well-being that you remain aware of what is considered the normal weight for his or her age. For children ages 2 to 20, health care professionals assess weight in comparison to other children of the same age and gender by measuring Body Mass Index-for-Age (BMI-for-age). Your child’s pediatrician will use the BMI-

for-age charts and compare your child’s body fat levels to others of the same age and sex. Children whose weight falls between the 5th and 85th percentiles are considered to have a healthy weight. Children that fall in the “at risk” category, health care professionals recommend no weight gain or loss for a period of time. Weight maintenance allows a child to gradually reduce his/her BMI-for-age by growing taller as weight remains stable. The goal is to establish lifelong healthy eating and exercise habits. For overweight children, health care professionals recommend a weight loss of no more than one pound per month, because children are continuing to grow and develop. Very low-calorie diets, weight-loss medications and surgery are rarely recommended for children, and are only considered for some youth as a last resort. A child should not be placed on any type of weight loss program unless directed to do so by a physician. Gradual weight loss or weight maintenance will require a change in daily habits and the commitment of the whole family to eating healthy foods and increasing physical activity.

Opaa! Begins Grab-n-Go Breakfast

By: Sheila Frost

Opaa! Food Management recently kicked off a new Grab-n-Go Breakfast cart pilot program in four school districts across the state of Missouri. High School students at Smithville, Gasconade County R-I, Marshfield and Winfield came back to school this fall to the smell of freshly made waffles lingering in their commons area. The cart is geared t o w a r d enticing more

students to eat a healthy breakfast before the school day begins. The new cart offers breakfast sandwiches, fruit & yogurt parfaits, freshly made Belgian waffles, fresh fruit, 100% fruit juice and low fat/fat free milk. These new breakfast choices are reimbursable meals and available to all students; free, reduced and full pay.

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You Too Can Be A Safety Champion!

By: Scott Meyer

The new school year brings about a renewed spirit to give our customers a great meal experience, with outstanding service and food quality. But we also work really hard to create and maintain a high degree of awareness toward safety. As you may recall, our new company safety “motto” is S.A.F.E. (An acronym for Stay Accident Free Everyday!). We are asking for each kitchen to establish a safety champion to help with our safety efforts. Safety awareness requires a team effort, and the Safety Champion concept enables every member of each kitchen to play a role with safety. Each kitchen is to determine up to 3 measurable, safety goals for the school year. For the balance of the

school year, these goals will be the focus for the entire team. In addition, each kitchen staff member will be delegated a part of the daily and weekly safety tasks such as completing the weekly safety checklist, mentoring new employees, facilitate the daily safety pep talks, etc. Best practices are shared with regards to slips/fall prevention, knife handling, burn prevention, etc. The goal is to get total staff involvement in this new program, so that the awareness will increase and everyone will work in a safer environment. Here’s to a S.A.F.E start to the 2011-12 school year.

Arcadia Advance Archie Aurora Ava Billings Brookfield Butler Carl Junction Caruthersville Centralia Charleston Clark Clearwater Cleaver Clinton R-III Clinton 124 Dexter

Diamond East Buchanan East Carter East Prairie El Dorado Excelsior Fayette Gasconade Greenfield Greenville Hallsville Hamilton Harrisburg Hayti Henry Co. Holden Johnson Co. Kearney

Kennett Lafayette Lamar Lawson Lexington Lockwood Maries Co Marshall Marshfield Maysville McDonald Co. Moberly Monett Montgomery Morgan Co. Mt. Grove Mt. View Neelyville

Nevada New Bloomfield New Madrid Nixa North Callaway Oak Grove Odessa Palmyra Paris Pemiscot Pierce City Platte Co. Puxico Richmond Scott City Shelby Co. Smithville Southern Boone

100%

100%

Spring Bluff Steelville Stockton Sullivan Van Buren Van Far Verona West Plains Westview Wheaton Winfield Winona Woodland

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Opaa! is pleased to announce that 5 new districts joined the Opaa! family when school began. They are Ava, New Bloomfield, Neelyville, Lockwood, and Greenfield

Opaa! is pleased to announce several new Directors that have

joined the Opaa! family. They are: Carla Aborn, Cassie Denning, Tracy Campbell, Nancy Glover, Lynn Forbus, Tanya Noland, and Christie Mounce, Lisa Bradfield, and DeeDee Jordan.

Opaa! is pleased to announce that Debbie Fear and Nicole

Devlin have accepted Regional Director of Operations positions.

Time– To– Spare Ribs Ingredients: 1-large size oven cooking bag ¼ cup flour 1 small bottle barbecue sauce 1 medium onion, chopped 3lb pork spare ribs, (country ribs or center cut loin chops work well, too)

Directions: Preheat oven to 325°. Shake flour in oven cooking bag. Place in 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Add all other ingredients. Squeeze bag to blend. Make 6 ½ inch slits in the top of the bag. Cook 1 ½ hours. (Bag will darken)

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