By Sophie Weinstein ’13, Contributor
For the past five years, Food Service Director Donna Fischer has been directing the culinary traffic patterns of students from the Early Childhood House to Upper School. Recently, she has accepted a position in the MidAtlantic Culinary Support Team in Baltimore, and will be moving to Baltimore to take the position next school year.
During Ms. Fischer’s time at CCDS she has put an emphasis on foods that are both healthy and delicious. “With the way students’ lives have become so hectic and filled with after school activities as well as their studies, it is extremely important for them to not only have a meal that will sustain them through the day, but also to ensure they are getting the proper nutrition they need to maintain their busy lifestyles.”
In order to meet her goal of serving these nutritional lunches Ms. Fischer had some changes to make when she first came to CCDS. “One of our first…obstacles was eliminating the fryers from the kitchen,”Ms. Fischer said. Once that was achieved Donna started to work towards Sage’s ultimate goal: “to use as much local and organic product as possible and constantly give more and more variety.” The food served by Sage is almost all made from scratch with fresh ingredients provided by local farms when possible.
Donna realizes that one of the most challenging obstacles about serving to such a wide variety of ages is that “eating healthy to children is not always the most appetizing option when thinking about what they want.” Sage solved this problem by taking the same foods kids love to eat and creating them in a much healthier way. By also serving things like artisan pizza and varied salsas, like mango, Ms. Fischer has exposed younger palettes to new and healthy flavors, although she still receives suggestions for Sage to make dishes like “chocolate covered bacon.”
Taking over Donna’s position as the Food Service Directors for next year will be Hannah Davis and Rob Houk. “I couldn’t be more excited to take on the new role as Food Service Director, but it also significantly changes my responsibilities in the CCDS kitchen,” said Chef Houk about his new position. “Unfortunately, I will be spending a little less time in the kitchen and more time in the office.”
As excited as they are for their new positions at Sage Dining Service, they are also going to sorely miss Ms. Fischer when she leaves for Baltimore. “I guess my fondest memory of Donna is the fact that she isn’t just my boss but a lifelong friend as well,” Chef Houk said. “I apologize if all of that sounds really cheesy but it’s true.”
What really sticks out to Chef Houk about Ms. Fischer is “her absolute commitment to her job.” While she’s constantly working hard with Sage Dining Services, she is also committed to helping out with the arts at CCDS. Ms. Fischer said she enjoys working with the arts because she “[loves] getting to know some of the students and faculty on a level other than serving them lunch.”
Mr. Mark Femia, head of the Drama Department at CCDS, has had lots of opportunities to work closely with Ms. Fischer. “Donna has been very helpful in the CCDS productions, even before I started here,” he said. “She has been a make-up and hair consultant, and has been here to either show students how to style their make-up and hair for each show, or she
has physically been at the table doing it for them if they need help.”
Mrs. Fischer has enjoyed being hands on in the drama department ever since high school when she was an active participant in theater programs with her school.
It is clear that the school will miss Ms. Fischer in the cafeteria and behind the stage, but the whole community wishes her the best in Baltimore.
Photo courtesy of sagedining.com