Yuma Foodservice Director
Wins Prestigious National Award

YUMA - March 2, 2010 - Karen Johnson, Director of Child Nutrition for Yuma Elementary School District One, has been named 2010 Golden School Foodservice Director of the Year. The award is the most prestigious recognition given by the national Foodservice Achievement Management Excellence (FAME) Awards program, sponsored by Basic American Foods, Schwan’s Food Services, Inc. and Tyson Foods, Inc. 

Johnson received her award during the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) Child Nutrition Industry Conference (CNIC) earlier this year in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

District One Superintendent Darwin Stiffler says of Johnson: “She is a treasure! She typifies all that is right with Yuma and the nation. It is great that the whole nation is looking to Yuma because of Johnson’s inspiration.”

Colleagues describe Johnson as an inspirational leader and a professional with the highest of standards. She has placed a priority on higher education for herself and her employees by completing a Bachelor’s degree one class at a time over several years while working and raising her family. She has continued her education and is determined to complete her Master’s degree from Northern Arizona University - Yuma.

She is also the driving force behind the development of a wellness policy for Yuma District One. Johnson has coupled this work with development of a free breakfast program which impacts student achievement by providing students a nutritious meal each morning, insuring they’re ready to learn. She has also worked closely with the Yuma Food Bank to implement a program sending students of families-in-need home with nutritious food for the weekend to insure they won’t go hungry.

Johnson empowers her staff to make decisions at the school sites and encourages management of each site as a small business. She has expanded school foodservice operating revenues from $2.8 million to $5 million with little change in enrollment over a twenty-year period by implementing procedures and equipment changes to make each site more efficient.

Johnson’s global interest in school nutrition has led her to travel internationally, sharing best practices from school nutrition programs in America in support of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation. Johnson’s work has been published nationally in Good Housekeeping and School Food Service & Nutrition, and she has received several state and national awards recognizing her work and service to the industry of school nutrition.