FYI 98642

Grant and Cole Goldberg started volunteering in the school cafeteria during their Freshman year

Three graduating Ridgefield seniors spent their lunches at high school learning about the food service industry by participating in the school cafeteria’s community service program.

Ridgefield School District’s food service provides opportunities for students to receive community service credit toward senior projects by volunteering in the cafeteria. As an added bonus, students who volunteer also receive a free lunch each day they volunteer. Each day, the student volunteers help the school cafeteria employees serve over 250 students during the school’s two lunch periods.

Cole Goldberg, Kimberly Shortwell, and Grant Goldberg used their volunteer experiences for their senior projects

Twin brothers, Cole and Grant Goldberg, started volunteering in the cafeteria during their Freshman year at Ridgefield High School. The next year, they convinced their friend and classmate, Kimberly Shortwell, to begin volunteering, too. “I wanted to help everyone out and have fun at the same time,” said Shortwell. In the years since, the three students continued to volunteer and maintained perfect attendance records, not missing a single day of school or cafeteria work.

Cole Goldberg (left) heard about the opportunity first and talked his brother, Grant (right), into joining him

Initially, Cole decided to volunteer in the cafeteria after hearing a request for volunteers during the high school’s daily announcements. “I wanted to help my family financially by working for the free lunches,” said Cole. His brother, Grant, agreed, “At first, we volunteered for the free lunch, but then we got to know the staff and we both started having a lot of fun.”

Student volunteers help serve the lunch lines each day, prepare food, and lend a hand wherever the food service employees need it. “These students developed a lot of confidence over their years volunteering here,” said Connie Vowels, Director of Food Services for Ridgefield School District. “They take ownership in their jobs, and they truly know what they’re doing.”

The employees learn a lot from the students, too. “I really enjoy being around our student volunteers, learning what teenagers are up to these days,” said Viola Jacobsen, head of the high school cafeteria. In addition, the student volunteers get to know the cafeteria employees, and help to dispel stereotypes among the rest of the student body. “Our three volunteers tell the other kids how cool the lunch ladies really are,” said Jacobsen.

Vowels noticed how the cafeteria became a comfort zone for the student volunteers. “We’re all just normal people, so we get to become friends over time,” she said. “Our volunteers like to come in and socialize with us, and sometimes we even help counsel them with challenges they’re experiencing at school or at home.” Cole learned to become less introverted by serving lunch to his classmates. “When I first started volunteering, I was very shy at school, but now I interact a lot more after handling so many students during lunch,” he said.

Kimberly Shortwell plans to major in the culinary arts and become a professional chef

Now, with these three student volunteers approaching graduation, they point to their experiences volunteering at the cafeteria as helping change their lives. “I intend to major in culinary arts and have applied for the scholarship Chartwells offers students going into food service,” said Shortwell. “I now want to be a chef.” Grant plans to major in mental counseling and start his own firm one day. “Working in the cafeteria helped me develop the skills to adapt to changing situations and work efficiently,” he said. Cole would like to be a paralegal, “Volunteering helped us develop a great work ethic by needing to come to work every single school day.”

The students’ graduation will be bittersweet for the cafeteria staff who even presented at the twin brothers’ senior boards. “We’re so proud of what the students have become over these years,” said Jacobsen. “Whichever employer hires them will be so lucky to have them.” Vowels agreed, “These students are communicative and let us know if they’re going to be even a few minutes late, and all three have shown incredible growth for kids at this age.”

Did you know you can submit story ideas for upcoming Did You Knows? Submit your story idea via the District’s online form here: http://bit.ly/DYK-Submit

For more Did You Knows, visit the district website. You can also get more district news from their Facebook page or on Twitter.

Members from the school district, community, and GCCM team kicked off Ridgefield’s new school facilities construction

Ridgefield School District kicked off construction on the first new school facilities in over 20 years during a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, May 9, 2013 at a construction site located between Union Ridge Elementary School and View Ridge Middle School.

Superintendent Art Edgerly started the ceremony by thanking the Ridgefield community for their support

Superintendent Art Edgerly thanked the Ridgefield community for passing the bond enabling the construction of the district’s new facilities in February 2012. “We are very thankful for the patrons’ approval of the $47 million bond,” said Edgerly. “Here we are, 15 months later, beginning construction on all three of our school campuses!”

Edgerly introduced representatives from the Ridgefield School District’s board of directors; leaders and members from the Bond Advisory Team and the Citizens for Ridgefield Schools community association; and representatives from the General Contractor Construction Management (GCCM) Team responsible for the new construction.

Community member Greg Price points toward Union Ridge Elementary School, the oldest school in Ridgefield, built in 1952

Greg Price, a community member and volunteer leader for the Bond Advisory Team and Citizens for Ridgefield Schools, spoke of the historic nature of the new school construction. “No renovations have taken place at our schools in over 20 years since the last bond passed in 1991,” said Price. “The location for this groundbreaking ceremony is significant as we are standing between our oldest school, Union Ridge, built in 1952, and our newest school, View Ridge, built in 1972.”

Superintendent Art Edgerly with members of the GCCM Team

Special guests included Ridgefield’s Mayor Ron Onslow, the Ridgefield City Council Members, the Port of Ridgefield’s Executive Director Brent Grening, the Port of Ridgefield’s Commissioners, Ridgefield School District Administration and Staff, along with Ridgefield patrons and community members.

Superintendent Art Edgerly with members from the Bond Advisory Team

Attendees reviewed diagrams and renderings for the new school buildings, and watched as team members dug the first shovelfuls of dirt. “These projects do more than add school facilities to our district,” said Edgerly. “Together, as a community, we will continue to create community schools with great results!”

From Left: Julie Olson (Board President), Jeff Vigue (Board Member), Art Edgerly (Superintendent), and Scott Gullickson (Board Vice-President)

Construction on the new facilities and renovations will take place over the course of the next year with completion scheduled for the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year. More details can be found on the Capital Facilities Improvements section of the district website at: http://bit.ly/RSD-Construction.

Did you know you can submit story ideas for upcoming Did You Knows? Submit your story idea via the District’s online form here: http://bit.ly/DYK-Submit

For more Did You Knows, visit the district website. You can also get more district news from their Facebook page or on Twitter.