Success isn't just what you accomplish in life, its about what you inspire other to do!
PPLLC is proud to host interns from many local and national programs including Case Western Reserve University, University of Akron, Kent State University, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and many distance programs. We are committed to passing on the legacy of our work in the area of child nutrition, specifically inspiring programs to commit to (1) local foods (2) clean label cooking (3) global on trend flavors. The many interns we host leave a mark on our work, just as we hopefully give them "food for thought" about committing to a career in our field. In fact, several of our very own interns are now Pisanick Partners!
While we strongly feel we gain as much from hosting and mentoring as the interns learn, we wanted to take a chance to let them give you their perspective.
Leilah R.. Absi (Be Well Solutions Dietetic Intern)
Intern life In a nutshell: Dietetic interns must have supervised hours in three main areas: clinical, community, and foodservice. I was fortunate enough to do my foodservice rotation with Pisanick Partners, LLC. As an intern with PPLLC, I was exposed to different aspects of school foodservice. My first week was working with the breakfast carts at a Cleveland school. Rather than having breakfast in the cafeteria, these carts are wheeled into the hallways and students took their own free breakfast to eat in their classrooms. These carts allow students to choose their own breakfast options and get their food more quickly. By eating in the classroom, they save time and energy for students and staff rather than eating in the cafeteria. My second week with PPLLC I was at a Summit county school helping the dietitian plan their menus. It was great to see the other, more technological side of school food service. We got to pick and choose what local recipe were featured for the staff and students and put it in an easy-to-read menu site available for all. Real talk I consider myself extremely fortunate to have done my foodservice rotations with PPLLC. This company has down-to-earth employees who genuinely care about their audience, constantly shaping the school food program to be the best. Working with and observing these dietitians in their daily lives was a wonderful learning experience. The dietitians at this company have taught me so much in my short two weeks with them and will never be able to thank them enough for it.
Nicki Thome (Kent State University Dietetic Intern)
I really like working with kids and love encouraging them to try new and exciting nutritious foods! Helping with the falafel bar sampling was a great experience and I think it’s great to involve the students in helping to decide what foods they would like at school. The falafel bar was a big success! Everyone I spoke with really liked the idea and said the food was very good and they would love to see it on the menu. I really liked getting the feedback from the students and interacting with them during the sampling. It was fun to see how excited some of the students were about a potential new menu option and I liked being involved in helping to make that happen!
Food from different ethnic backgrounds is so delicious and flavorful! Bringing those options into the schools opens the door for kids to try new items they might not otherwise try and might really enjoy. Interning with Pisanick Partners has been a great experience and I love all the fun and creative ideas they bring to the schools to help get kids interested and excited in healthy and nutritious meals!
