Featured Staff: Michelle Shatto Kitchen Manager at Quatama Elementary

Hats off to teacher Sheila O’Leary who nominated Michelle Shatto, Kitchen Manager at Quatama Elementary to be a Tyson Foods Hunger Hero. While she wasn’t the winner, she was a close contender and runner-up and on Friday May 2, she received a special visit from the HSD Tyson rep to celebrate her in honor of school lunch hero day.

Here is what Sheila wrote in nominating Michelle:

I know the Hunger Hero you are looking for!!  Michelle Shatto, the Head Cook/Kitchen Manager at Quatama Elementary School in Hillsboro Oregon, goes above and beyond her job description to enhance our school nutrition program.  She embodies the title Hunger Hero is SO many ways in our school!  She is definitely worthy of being one of the next Tyson K-12 Hungry Heroes! 

Michelle is an amazing cook who makes staple cafeteria food taste delicious and appealing.  She is familiar with all the students, knows them by name and works hard to build relationships with them during breakfast and lunch times.  She also gives generously of her time after school and so many hours during the summer to tend the several, large garden spaces at the community garden located next door to our school.  She was able to persuade the church who manages the land to pay our fee for our use of the garden spots, so that she can grow fresh fruits and vegetables year round to supplement the student salad bar.  We have a very culturally diverse student and staff population and Michelle grows or acquires different and uncommon types (to us!) of fruits and vegetables that are used in the cultures of our students and staff.  Students LOVE seeing food from their culture in the salad bar. They get so excited to tell their friends about it and enjoy encouraging their friends to try new foods!  And, studies show, kids are more likely to try foods they have grown or that their friends are eating.  In addition, Michelle uses pictures and names to show what the different food options are each day, which help our younger students and also our linguistically diverse population know what different foods are.

Additionally each year, Michelle volunteers to lead several cooking classes as an after school (and after her contracted hours!) club for students.  She offers these classes on a rotating basis, striving to make sure that all students, regardless of age or background, have an opportunity to learn to create healthy snacks to eat.

Michelle goes above and beyond in so many ways to share nutrition with our students.  The students and staff love her and I am honored to nominate her for consideration to become one of the next Tyson K-12 Hunger Heroes!

Well done Michelle and Sheila, you are both heroes that make us all Proud to be HSD!