GOLDEN SCHOOL SERVICE DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

johnson

Susan Wenona Johnson
Supervisor
School Board of Marion County
Ocala, FL
Enrollment: 41,950
# of Lunches Served Daily: 29,584
Annual Foodservice Budget: $24 million

While working as the Operations Manager with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Susan Wenona Johnson embraced the opportunity to serve children and recognized that a quality nutritious meal was important and often helped improve behavior. She used that experience to launch a career in school nutrition where she is focused on student input, food quality, cafeteria atmosphere and staff training. She listens to and speaks with students often and is always making improvements based on their preferences. Susan started a breakfast program that has increased participation by 5% and made changes to the salad bar that increased student salad consumption significantly. She upgraded the cafeteria with more inviting and faster service lines and added card readers for students’ ID cards. Small changes that are making a big impact make Susan a huge success!