Chestnut Elementary School
Kissimmee, FL
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The cafeteria at Chestnut Elementary School for Science and Engineering had just kind of “lost its identity,” said Randy Souza, vice president and owner at Eaton Marketing.
The Kissimmee, FL, home to about 700 students in pre-K through 5th grade was ready to come up with some creative ideas to breathe new life — and some modern maturity — into the facility.
“The school district realized the children of today need a little more food court-like feel than the institutional look that was used for so long,” Souza said. “It was time for a real update.”
The transformation
A complete renovation project aimed not only to update and modernize the appearance of the cafeteria but also to improve its function by eliminating bottlenecks and speeding up service to accommodate more students during meal periods.
LTI partnered with Eaton Marketing, a Clearwater-based manufacturers’ rep group supporting commercial kitchens, along with Lacey Galloway, the Osceola School District’s nutrition services coordinator, and her team to design a solution for the school.
Some walls were removed to open the serving area up to the cafeteria’s seating area, and both spaces were re-imagined with bright colors, mascot-inspired décor, updated flooring and lighting, and encouraging signage like “eat smart” and “ignite your appetite.”
At the serving line, durable LTI counters were equipped with QuickSwitch serving technology to provide the utmost in menu flexibility.
Each QuickSwitch well can be hot, cold or frozen, allowing foods to be held at different temperatures just inches apart. And the wells can switch between temperatures in an hour.
“They can use them hot for breakfast foods and switch the same wells to cold for salads at lunch,” Souza said. “QuickSwitch gives them the flexibility to adjust their menu from day to day and meal period to meal period.”
Chestnut Elementary also installed QuickSwitch glass shelving to expand serving capacity. Like QuickSwitch wells, the shelves can change temperature easily, allowing the space to be used for foods like warm sandwiches or cold gelatin, depending on the need.
“It was an impressive transformation,” said Willis Smith, LTI’s education sales specialist, who also worked on the project. “We were able to take this facility from drab and boring to bright and engaging, a true reflection of the vibrant life of this elementary school.”
