High school food service receives two new salad bars courtesy of VEA

Many Pahrump Valley High School students seem to have taken a keen interest in healthier diets.

To assist in that effort, last week the school district introduced two brand new salad bars to the cafeteria.

Valley Electric Association, Inc. purchased and donated the salad bars.

PVHS Principal Chris Brockman said aside from students dining inside the cafeteria Monday through Friday, officials from Valley Electric also use the venue for various events.

“They also hold some of their functions here with their stakeholders and different events,” he said. “They had mentioned if there was something they could do to help the school,” he said.

While noting how important the contribution was to the school, District Superintendent Dale Norton said students now have numerous options to choose from during their lunch hour.

He called the contribution essential, as the school feeds 500 to 600 students each school day.

“I believe the students are embracing a healthier diet and obviously we also encourage a healthy diet,” he said. “The kids now have a lot of options to choose from. I will say that it’s hard for me not to eat here at school when I visit during lunchtime. The presentation is great and the food is great. Our kids are truly getting a good meal.”

PVHS Food Service Manager Terri Hargis said Valley Electric’s contribution could not have come at a better time.

“We previously used tabletops so we were having to move them back and forth each day and they were also a little smaller,” she said. “These new salad bars work great and they have wheels so you can move them easier.”

Hargis noted that a representative from the co-op brought up the topic during a previous event.

“There was a Valley Electric Association lunch here, which was catered and I was asked if there was anything that we needed,” she recalled. “Once I got to thinking about it, I thought we could use at least two more salad bars on wheels. So here they are.”

Assistant Food Service Coordinator Dawna Braithwaite said students now have more options for lunch as a result of the donation.

“There are a lot of choices on the new salad bars and I can’t really think of anything that’s not on there,” she said. “If you look at all the different offerings, it would probably rival a lot of salad bars that you see in restaurants around town.”

Mike Hengel from Valley Electric Association said the co-op is always grateful for the use of the school’s facilities for their functions.

“This is just a small expression of gratitude on our part for these great facilities available to us for the annual meeting,” he said. “We really couldn’t do it without them. These are great appliances that the school district can also use and we are glad to be in a position to help out. It’s also about trying to offer more nutritional options for the kids.”

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes