Dec. 16 – Serving thousands of hungry students in kindergarten through 12th grade is no easy feat, yet it is done every day in Kalispell Public Schools, overseen by new Food Service Director Christine Thelen.
Outside the central kitchen on a fall morning in November, the cold air gives way to the warm aromas of all the cooking and baking inside. Standing next to a rack full of dry ingredients, Thelen got an update as dozens of turkeys were set to arrive to prepare for a Thanksgiving-themed meal.
“I love cooking,” Thelen said. “And the best part of my job is seeing all the kids and interacting with all the kids. I absolutely love it. I just think it’s important to have nice meals and good interactions with kids”
The Kalispell resident, who started as principal this school year, made the transition to food service after driving school buses for the district for 22 years.
“I was a single mom, so I had to have the same schedule as my kids,” she said. “It was a great schedule.”
She began working at the Linderman Education Center and then at Flathead High School, where she became the lead food service associate, further expanding her food service skills.
“I could do my bus route before going to the kitchen, work all day and do my bus route in the afternoon and then call it a day,” Thelen said.
She said it was fun to introduce high school students to new flavors, such as homemade chicken curry soup, which was approved by her own children.
Previously located in Flathead, the Central Kitchen moved to its current building on Northwest Lane, which opened in 2014. After learning that former food service director Jana Graham was retiring, Thelen said she was approached to fill the position.
“I talked to my husband and my family and I thought, you know what? I think I can do this. I think I would like a challenge,” she said.
Before joining the district, Thelen had not worked in food service.
“I mean, I looked at my mother [cook] on the other side of the counter, where I grew up making home-cooked meals, and I cooked from scratch for my kids,” she said.
‘I loved watching my mother. She made us a hot breakfast every day before she drove – she also drove a school bus – and she packed lunches and ate a hot, home-cooked meal at home every day. I am the middle child of five. Yeah, so I grew up with it and that’s what I know,” Thelen said.
ALTHOUGH SHE now has an office, Thelen still rolls up her sleeves to help the staff, whether it’s prepping, cooking, serving or cashiering. She often travels to school kitchens where there are few staff to help, where she can continue to interact with students and teachers.
“[For] For a lot of kids, this is their hot meal… this is their interaction, positive interaction, and that’s important to me,” she said.
Thelen said the food service department prepares an average of about 4,200 meals per day for 16 schools, including those that contract the district to provide meals, including schools at Trinity Lutheran, Smith Valley, Cayuse Prairie, Helena Flats and Fair-Mont-Egan.
The number of breakfasts and lunches served has skyrocketed since Kalispell Public Schools began offering free meals to all students under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Provision, which is an option for schools and districts in low-income areas to increase participation of students and access to nutritious meals.
‘Are we busy? Uh-huh, but I like to keep busy. I’d much rather be super busy than sit around,” she said with a smile, noting that she was heading to Flathead after the interview.
The logistics of menu planning on this scale require attention to detail. The factors that play a role in menu rotation mainly depend on which ingredients and government products are available.
“When we serve this much food, I try to go back into the freezer and see where we’re struggling,” she said. “Right now we have a lot of pulled pork. So yesterday we made pulled pork chili as a kind of variation, instead of chicken chili or beef chili.”
Participating elementary schools also conduct taste tests to learn about new fruits and vegetables that may be difficult to obtain or expensive in Montana. A dry-erase board in her office lists the vegetables for the week’s taste tests, including the root vegetable jicama.
“We’re going to send out some mango pieces today. I mean, mango is generally a pretty expensive fruit for families to buy, so I want to be able to spread their wings a little bit,” she said.
The USDA also revised nutrition standards, limiting added sugars, reducing sodium and increasing the number of whole grains in school meals. Schools have until 2027 to implement this.
“For us, it’s not that big of a difference,” said Thelen, who previously noted, “These don’t have to be there until 2027, but I guess since everyone is new to Central Kitchen, why not get into it now let’s get the ball rolling.”
Thelen said she is focused on reducing the number of pre-packaged foods used and increasing the number of prepared meals, which is a challenge due to employee turnover.
“I think the less pre-packaged food, the better. We have a brand new chef [Chela Pease] and she is fantastic. She loves scratch cooking,” Thelen said. “We’re on the same page when it comes to scratch cooking and all that.”
She said the district already has low sodium levels in meals.
“Especially with all the scratch cooking we’re doing now. You can season your food and make it taste great without using salt. Chela is great with using all kinds of spices and we’re getting a lot of good feedback,” Thelen said .
Added sugar can be trickier because of its prevalence in food, especially packaged foods like cereal or yogurt. Therefore, the food service will choose to deliver breakfast cereals such as Rice Krispies or Cheerios. The Central Kitchen also employs a baker who can tinker with recipes.
“It’s just going to be a lot of label reading and we can contact our suppliers and say these are the new guidelines. What are the infant food appropriate items that you have,” she said.
Although she doesn’t meal plan, Thelen said she is a “lake girl,” whether it’s kayaking, paddle boarding or boating with her husband James. She also enjoys traveling to visit her daughter Mikaila (who loves to cook) in Boston and Emmy (who bakes) in Bozeman.
Reporter Hilary Matheson can be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.
