Jennifer Witting
Jennifer began her career with the East Valley School District twelve years ago in 2013!
She grew up in Cheney and is the youngest of 4 kids in her family. She moved to Seattle in her early twenties to go and be wild and crazy and have fun before the responsibilities of life took hold. When that phase was over, it was time to buy a house and raise her son, which she decided to do in Spokane. She’s lived on the South Hill for 24 years now. Jennifer is married and has the best dog, a German Shorthaired Pointer named Berkley. She enjoys camping and the outdoors and is more of a “mountains” girl than a “beach” girl.
While at home, Jennifer enjoys just hanging out, cooking some good food, and relaxing out on her patio. She is fortunate enough to still have both her parents alive and spends almost every Saturday with them while she can. Even at the ages of 87 and 91, they still have a lengthy “to-do” list for her, which she is happy to do for them.
Jennifer can’t resist the charm of a full moon on a clear night – it’s so amazing and beautiful. She also loves a good, buttery, flaky shortbread cookie with her coffee on the weekends!
Why she loves Nutrition Services: “I like working in Nutrition Services because it makes me feel like I'm being helpful in this life. I'm proud of the number of meals we serve in a day. I'm proud of the love and care that our kitchens show to our students every day. It's a good feeling knowing that we feed as many EV students as possible, not just during the school year, but during the summer too. Food is tangible and allows for connections to be made. It's challenging and rewarding, and I like that.”
Why she chose East Valley: Jennnifer originally applied to East Valley because she wanted a change and more of a challenge in her career. She had been in the food industry in various capacities for over 24 years, everything from fast food, fine dining, culinary school, catering and elder care. She thought “school food” was something she hadn’t done before that could be interesting, and it was an opportunity for her to learn and grow in more ways than she could ever imagine. To this day, “school food,” with the nutritional guidelines, commodity foods, bids, purchasing rules, and staffing, is still very interesting.
Favorite part of her job: One of her favorite parts of being the Nutrition Services Director is finding new, fun, delicious menu items for our students to enjoy. She loves it when she sees kids get excited about eating meals at school and wants to feed as many of them as she can. The pride the kitchen staff has in their program is another favorite of hers. Food is clearly her love language!
Fun fact: The number combination of 4-4-4 pops up frequently in her life!
Three words to describe her: Honest – Flexible – Casual