Deborah Rule, kitchen lead
Ames Middle School, Ames (Iowa) Community School District
Nominator: Jeffrey Schoening, district chef, Ames Community School District
“Deborah embodies what I would consider a ‘Foodservice Hero’. She has gone above and beyond on a daily basis in her pursuit of making her school the best it can be, despite a number of obstacles. She has proven time and time again that she is not only willing, but able to feed hundreds of kids on a daily basis. Since becoming the manager of her school, she has learned, grown, and implemented changes that continue to make her school improve. She is not afraid of hard work and will jump in to assist her staff when they need the assistance. She always puts in the extra time to make sure any and all tasks not only get done, but get done right. She also has built very positive relationships with the faculty, staff, and most importantly the students of the schools! She does all of this while wearing a smile every single day. She is the type of person that deserves more recognition than she gets, and would be the perfect recipient for the title ‘Foodservice Hero’.”