Overview

We recently spoke with Jill Odom, Director of Nutrition Services at Kettle Falls School District in Washington, to learn more about how Health-e Pro helped her prepare for–and pass!–her Administrative Review. From being able to view menu compliance quickly to knowing which reports to run to prepare for the Review, see how Health-e Pro made a big difference for Kettle Falls:

How did Health-e Pro help you in preparation for your review?

The nutrient analysis software is absolutely fabulous and helped me be compliant in every single area: meal patterns, calories, sodium, every area! The reports give you an idea that you are hitting the mark and not missing it.

How did the menu screen with color coding help?

That part was very easy to learn. The colors on the screen tell you if you are compliant in all the meal pattern areas. What really helped me plan a compliant menu–especially getting my calories and sodium compliant–was the reports. Specifically, the Menu Compliance Report helped me see exactly why I was not passing on my menu and then I could quickly fix it.

What was the most helpful thing preparing for your review?

The Menu Compliance Report and online production records.

The production records are awesome, so nice and neat and easy to access!

It is clear and it is precise. You simply follow the prompts and fill out the Production Records. My kitchen staff was able to follow the printed Production Records easily; I also printed the Meal Contribution for my staff and they were able to know serving size–exactly–for all the different schools.

Our numbers in both breakfast and lunch are increasing, so we’re having to adjust preparation and production numbers. Having online Production in Health-e Pro has been very beneficial keeping it all together in one place.

For my Administrative Review, I printed out all the reports that my reviewer would need, and while she still used the USDA tools, she used all of Health-e Pro’s reports to populate the USDA worksheets and, as a result, we passed with flying colors.

Biggest advice for training and learning Health-e Pro?

This is coming from someone that has fewer computer skills than most directors, but I will say there was a point where the lightbulb went off. I was so thankful for the amount of training we received–and afterwards we still had the Support Team to answer any of our questions. It gave me so much peace of mind with my Administrative Review coming up.

What would you say the lightbulb moment was?

When you showed me the reports. When I saw how to use reports along with my menu planning helped me see how it was coming together, why each step was so important, and how it syncs together. The reports help answer the why behind each step in the software.

How has Health-e Pro benefited Kettle Falls School District?

It has definitely helped me learn menu planning and how to quickly create a compliant menu. Calories were the hardest thing for me to hit, but Health-e Pro has helped me learn how to plan a menu with the right amount of calories, whereas before, I was not serving enough calories on my menu. Health-e Pro also has taught me things that I can add to a menu that are just added calories versus something that is contributing towards my grains for the week.

I have also learned a lot about Product Formulation Statements and how to read through and get the data I need to become compliant.

I really appreciated the extra help Health-e Pro provided–at the beginning with training and all along the way.