(no subject)
yesterday i went to work late, because i thought that carla, my interviewer, would call me and tell me whether or not i've been hired. but no one called. at work, i called my house answering machine every hour or so. only calls i got were from abby and tony. got home at 4:45... no message.
so i called them. i called carla and she wouldn't tell me anything about it, i had to be transferred to the HR manager. when he started talking, he sounded like everyone else who'd ever given my job to someone with 'more experience' (see: was born before 1980---it's also called age discrimination).
"well, let me start out by saying we've hired someone for the position of director of food services. this person has experience managing a team of people.
however, carla was very impressed with you and felt you could do a great job here, so we'd like to offer you the position of assistant director of food services."
i asked him if i could have the weekend to consider it, as he said the position was open only to me. i called him back after i talked on the phone with tony and he told me it was all the perks of being director, without having to deal with all the bullshit. so that's it, i'm hired. i start wednesday.
this is a pretty big career change for me, i wanted to type a little bit about it, not just for all of you but for me to look back at in a few months, to say 'wait, i don't ever do that!' or 'there's so much i do they didn't tell me about', etc.
well, it's at the judge rotenberg center (JRC), in canton massachusetts. 200 kids go there. it's about a 40 minute drive for me, so i think i'll either try to take public transportation or find a good used car. this is a school for people from age 7-40 (there are very few people over age 22) with mental, developmental, and behavioral problems. thanks to my parents for being social workers, i know a lot more than most people do about this stuff. there are two buildings that are about 300 feet apart, one has classrooms and 'faux hospital rooms', offices, conference rooms, etc. the other building has offices and the auditorium, i'm sure there's more, i'll be taking a tour wednesday.
the school offers residency to the kids who need it. some kids go home at the end of the day with their parents, but a good amount of them live in houses together, assisted living. two of the houses are next to/across the street from the school, others are as far away as rehoboth.
a news program, 20/20 or something like it, did a report on the school that turned into a scandal. kristin and kate have backed it up, (both of these FINE ladies were briefly employed at the center near boston) apparently the center uses electrical charges to restrain or punish the kids. i would not work at this facility in that context.
now, about my position. assistant director of food services. i wish that 'assistant' wasn't in there. it's thirteen clams an hour, full time, benefits. the guy that got hired instead of me is 'dwayne.' grr.
the job is really great. the director of the JRC has decided to make the entire school vegan. but he's going under the direction of a doctor who's come up with a new twist on vegan, he calls it RAVEn, which basically means no refined foods, no animal foods, and no vegetable oils. (the e stands for no exceptions) basically, they're raw foods wannabes. a lot of the kids don't like the idea of not eating 'normally', and i don't blame them, that sort of thing NORMALLY isn't forced on people, but the reason this school is doing this is because many of the students are overweight due to the medications they've been put on for various illnesses. all three meals are served every day. breakfast and dinner have about 40-60% of the student body each day (varies) but everyone's there for lunch.
JRC is in the process of choosing a contractor to build an industrial kitchen in one of the buildings. until then, we use caterers to prepare the foods. then we set everything up buffet style in the cafeteria and have the kids eat that way. there's a fresh salad bar and soup prepared at the center, because they have a kitchen there, it's just... normal size.
my job is this:
+ come up with nutritionally balanced meals for the students (that kids will eat)
+ stock each student house with easy-to-prepare foods
+ choose caterers and food vendors
+ constantly find new foods to incorporate in the menu
+ plan and execute organic gardens at the students' homes so we can use the veggies in meals
+ plan bi-weekly staff luncheons
+ decorate and plan fun stuff for the two "nutritional rooms" in each of the buildings
+ plan videos and other things for the weekly nutritional assemblies all the kids will see
+ help plan the new kitchen
+ spend tons of time with caterers, making sure they don't use chix broth etc. and help them cook
i feel bad leaving my screenprinting job because my boss's wife just gave birth yesterday. and i really like the kid i work with. but i'm working 20 hours a week if i'm lucky, and i get paid $8.75. $175 and a lot of free time, or $520 and have a kick-ass job? hmmm...!
so, that's my new job.
so i called them. i called carla and she wouldn't tell me anything about it, i had to be transferred to the HR manager. when he started talking, he sounded like everyone else who'd ever given my job to someone with 'more experience' (see: was born before 1980---it's also called age discrimination).
"well, let me start out by saying we've hired someone for the position of director of food services. this person has experience managing a team of people.
however, carla was very impressed with you and felt you could do a great job here, so we'd like to offer you the position of assistant director of food services."
i asked him if i could have the weekend to consider it, as he said the position was open only to me. i called him back after i talked on the phone with tony and he told me it was all the perks of being director, without having to deal with all the bullshit. so that's it, i'm hired. i start wednesday.
this is a pretty big career change for me, i wanted to type a little bit about it, not just for all of you but for me to look back at in a few months, to say 'wait, i don't ever do that!' or 'there's so much i do they didn't tell me about', etc.
well, it's at the judge rotenberg center (JRC), in canton massachusetts. 200 kids go there. it's about a 40 minute drive for me, so i think i'll either try to take public transportation or find a good used car. this is a school for people from age 7-40 (there are very few people over age 22) with mental, developmental, and behavioral problems. thanks to my parents for being social workers, i know a lot more than most people do about this stuff. there are two buildings that are about 300 feet apart, one has classrooms and 'faux hospital rooms', offices, conference rooms, etc. the other building has offices and the auditorium, i'm sure there's more, i'll be taking a tour wednesday.
the school offers residency to the kids who need it. some kids go home at the end of the day with their parents, but a good amount of them live in houses together, assisted living. two of the houses are next to/across the street from the school, others are as far away as rehoboth.
a news program, 20/20 or something like it, did a report on the school that turned into a scandal. kristin and kate have backed it up, (both of these FINE ladies were briefly employed at the center near boston) apparently the center uses electrical charges to restrain or punish the kids. i would not work at this facility in that context.
now, about my position. assistant director of food services. i wish that 'assistant' wasn't in there. it's thirteen clams an hour, full time, benefits. the guy that got hired instead of me is 'dwayne.' grr.
the job is really great. the director of the JRC has decided to make the entire school vegan. but he's going under the direction of a doctor who's come up with a new twist on vegan, he calls it RAVEn, which basically means no refined foods, no animal foods, and no vegetable oils. (the e stands for no exceptions) basically, they're raw foods wannabes. a lot of the kids don't like the idea of not eating 'normally', and i don't blame them, that sort of thing NORMALLY isn't forced on people, but the reason this school is doing this is because many of the students are overweight due to the medications they've been put on for various illnesses. all three meals are served every day. breakfast and dinner have about 40-60% of the student body each day (varies) but everyone's there for lunch.
JRC is in the process of choosing a contractor to build an industrial kitchen in one of the buildings. until then, we use caterers to prepare the foods. then we set everything up buffet style in the cafeteria and have the kids eat that way. there's a fresh salad bar and soup prepared at the center, because they have a kitchen there, it's just... normal size.
my job is this:
+ come up with nutritionally balanced meals for the students (that kids will eat)
+ stock each student house with easy-to-prepare foods
+ choose caterers and food vendors
+ constantly find new foods to incorporate in the menu
+ plan and execute organic gardens at the students' homes so we can use the veggies in meals
+ plan bi-weekly staff luncheons
+ decorate and plan fun stuff for the two "nutritional rooms" in each of the buildings
+ plan videos and other things for the weekly nutritional assemblies all the kids will see
+ help plan the new kitchen
+ spend tons of time with caterers, making sure they don't use chix broth etc. and help them cook
i feel bad leaving my screenprinting job because my boss's wife just gave birth yesterday. and i really like the kid i work with. but i'm working 20 hours a week if i'm lucky, and i get paid $8.75. $175 and a lot of free time, or $520 and have a kick-ass job? hmmm...!
so, that's my new job.