Gilmer Schools dedicates lunchroom cafe after school grand opening
Bobcat's Corner, News September 5, 2021
EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – Almost one month into the school year, the Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley gathered with school faculty and representatives of the architectural and construction firms that have worked on Clear Creek Elementary School for the official grand opening along with dedicating the Little Cats Cafe.
Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley, left, and Principal Stephanie Burnette, right, hold the scissors to cut the ribbon on Clear Creek Elementary School’s official grand opening.
But more than just opening the school, there was also lunchroom staff and family and friends of Linda Waters, Gilmer’s previous nutrition director, to dedicate the school’s cafeteria to her.
Ridley offered thanks to board members and those representatives present for their parts in the project as well as former Superintendent Dr. Shanna Downs, under whose leadership the project began.
Officially cutting the ribbon on the grand opening, the school’s principal, Stephanie Burnette, offered a few words saying, “Everyone who remembers his or her education remembers the teachers, not necessarily the technology or the methods that were used. The teachers at Clear Creek Elementary School are the heart and what makes everything happen with every child, every day. We have a wonderful staff at Clear Creek Elementary School and this school would not be what it is today without our staff.
Immediately after the ribbon cutting, the presentation moved to the cafeteria.
This special honorary plaque hangs in the Little Cats Cafe to honor the life, efforts, and achievements of Linda Waters as Gilmer Schools’ Nutrition Director.
Honoring her commitment to the children of the school system and their nutritional needs, Gilmer School named the facility the “Little Cats Cafe.”
Burnette told that the name came from an older school as Linda Waters had wanted the cafeteria to have a name. When put to a vote, the name “Little Cats Cafe” won and stuck. Now, moving from the older building to the new facility down Yukon Road, the name is following the school. Achieving one of Waters’ goals, according to Burnette, the new facility is a state of the art kitchen with more space and better equipment than the old school ever had.
Randy Waters also spoke recalling memories and Linda’s fondness for the both the kids and the staff she worked with. “She loved you all,” he said.
He continued on thanking everyone for attending and celebrating her work. Randy said, “Thank you so much for being so kind to her, so helpful to her.”
As part of the ceremony and dedication, the school revealed a plaque placed onto the wall of the cafeteria memorializing Linda Waters and her time and efforts with Gilmer County Schools.
Waters claims “cleanest kitchens in Gilmer” as Schools score 100 on health inspections
Bobcat's Corner, News November 5, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer Schools’ Nutrition Program is celebrating this week with the final two inspections and school cafeteria’s health scores being reported.
According to Gilmer Schools Nutrition Director Linda Waters, both Clear Creek Elementary School (CCES) and Clear Creek Middle School (CCMS) were the two final inspections as she reported this week that every school in the county has made a 100 on their health scores.
With some pointing to this as a more important report than ever before due to the virus and pandemic, a perfect 100 health score seems to relay more peace of mind than it has before as scores show grades on everything from food safety and contamination to personal health and cleanliness.
Waters said, “I am so very proud of all of our staff who work hard to maintain the highest level of sanitation in our kitchens! As I have said before, we have the cleanest kitchens in Gilmer County.”
However, this achievement is not something that has been focused on since the pandemic. Gilmer Schools has achieved this for two years now. Waters said the schools scored 100 in all schools since the winter semester of 2019. FYN also reported in March 2019 those perfect scores. Before that, Waters said that in 2018 the school system saw inspection scores at 100 on all but two schools that received a 99.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website, these schools have been inspected twice a year, once in the fall semester, and once in the winter/spring semester in the new year. Their website also has the full details on the rules and regulations used in their inspections for food service where you can search for the schools and see their inspection history.
Seamless Summer officially begins in Gilmer
News May 28, 2020
GILMER COUNTY, Ga. – Bringing and official end to the Seamless Feeding Program with Memorial Day, Gilmer Schools have officially transferred this week into their Seamless Summer Program.
But this is more than just a name change on what the schools have already done, the Seamless Summer has many differences as the school system transitions into the normal summer cycle. The first and biggest difference will be delivery. Adapting to the needs of the county, the school system has run bus routes normally through the county during school to deliver work packets, food, and a second meal each day during the school year. Now, according to Gilmer Schools, the big purple bus (seen above) will be visiting site the way previous summer programs have held.
“The big purple bus will depart Mountain View Elementary to begin delivering meals… at approximately 11:00 A.M. Monday-Thursday each week this summer,” said the system’s social media post. The locations include:
-Gilmer County Health Department
-Boys and Girls Club
-Mulberry Street Apartments
-Ellijay 1st United Methodist Church
-Tower Road
-Carolyn Drive
Additionally, One change from Seamless Summer’s normal operation has lifted restrictions for on site consumption, meals do not have to be consumed onsite. This is also allowing Thursdays will be different as Lunch and Breakfast for the next day will be served. This means children will receive double meals to save for Friday. As per their usual program, any child 18 and under may receive meals.
This week saw Memorial Day as a holiday, but through Tuesday and Wednesday, Nutrition Director Linda Waters said the department has delivered 270 breakfasts and lunches to their sites and are now preparing for next week to bring on the Boys and Girls Club listed in their locations. Today, they are looking at double to cover Friday, meaning a delivery of 540 meals for lunch time.
The Nutrition Department goes through their numbers daily as they look to respond and adjust on a weekly basis to the county’s needs. For example, adjusting to incorporate the Boys and Girls Club next week, or adding in athletics summer programs beginning in early June when the add another 20 breakfasts for athletes and then 60 lunches as small groups practice with coaches throughout the day.
Waters said, “We will make it work.” She said she has had a great staff and has proven that as they adjusted to the needs during the COVID-19 outbreak and quarantines and they will adjust and adapt again to the developing needs.
In fact, the only thing holding the program back at this moment, said Waters, is a rising need for volunteers. Some sites are still very undermanned. But more than that, Waters said that right now, restrictions and regulations are setting boundaries for now, but what the program can grow into is all dependent upon the community. Normally, the Seamless Summer Program has daily events, reading with the children, playing, and other activities. Whether the program can return to that by summer’s end depends a little on state guidelines, but more on community volunteers who step up to lead and help with those activities. To reach that goal later, they still need those to answer the call now to receive and handout food at the current locations.
While the Nutrition Department is already preparing and planning for school in the fall and waiting to hear from State and County Boards of Education on how to proceed, they are continuing to juggle in the Seamless Summer Program and working towards making it a success in the eyes of the community.
Seamless feeding set to transition to Seamless Summer in May
News April 29, 2020
EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – Superintendent Dr. Shanna Downs took a few moments to correct some confusion among the community this week addressing the Seamless Feeding program.
The current bus routes and Seamless Feeding Program will continue through May 22, originally scheduled as the last day of school, according to Downs.
She went on to say, “After May 22, normally, post-planning, we do not do meals. However, given to the current situation, I’ve asked Ms. Waters to just immediately transition into the Summer Feeding Program.”
Also due to the current situation, this year’s summer program will be drastically different. Maintaining the social distancing orders, there will not be the same level of engagement possible as usual. Dr. Downs said that this year, volunteers will not be staying for hours as they have normally done activities like reading, coloring, or playing games among others.
This year, the program will only have four sites with the food coming from the Mountain View cafeteria. Those deliveries will occur very similar to how the feeding program is going now, bringing the meals and passing them out while maintaining distancing orders. They will then leave the sites shortly after. Downs said that while the program may have lasted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. most days, these sites will likely be closer to 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
These sites will include Tower Road, Mulberry Street, the Gilmer Health Department, and Ellijay First United Methodist Church.
The school system is still concerned with finding volunteers to help and trying to fill gaps with some administrative staff where possible.
The program will see a gap on Memorial Day, but will continue on May 26 as normal.