NMSNA Roadrunner Newsletter

"Fall is the best season in New Mexico. It's warm and colorful, and it stretches itself like a cat, lingering in the sunny spots as long as it can." —B.B. Griffith. 

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President's Report

Dear Members,

Welcome back to another exciting school year! I hope the fall season finds you energized and ready to embrace the challenges and opportunities ahead. Each year, we are reminded that school nutrition plays a vital role in shaping the health, learning, and well-being of our students. Your hard work, creativity, and dedication truly make a difference in the lives of children across New Mexico.

This fall, our focus is on connection, advocacy, and growth. I encourage every member to share your stories!! Whether it’s a new recipe that was a hit in your cafeteria, a successful program you launched, or a creative way you’ve engaged your students and community. These stories inspire us all and strengthen our collective voice.

We also have important dates to keep in mind:

• Lyman Graham Scholarship applications open October 1^st through November 10^th. Please encourage participation to apply. This scholarship represents a valuable opportunity and chance to walk the steps in Washington and advocate for the children. This scholarship affords a member the opportunity to attend LAC to continue the work of Mr. Graham at his favorite leadership forum. Let our voices be heard.
• Fall Membership Drive is underway! Let’s continue building our association by inviting colleagues to join and take part in the benefits of membership. Fall drives run Oct 1^st through Dec 31^st with a chance to win $25 dollar gift card by recruiting at least one new member.
• National School Lunch week is October 13^th through October 17^th. Looking forward to sharing what we have planned in our District.

Let us continue our Legislative & Advocacy efforts. Never forget that our voices matter. This year, take that step into advocacy. Together, we can walk the halls of Washington and Santa Fe, ensuring that child nutrition remains a focus. Fully funded Programs are our priority.

I am proud of the work we’ve accomplished so far, and I am confident that the months ahead will bring even greater success. Thank you for your commitment, your leadership, and your passion for nourishing New Mexico’s students.

Let’s make this year one of growth, collaboration, and impact!

Hollie Valenzuela

President New Mexico School Nutrition Association

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Vice President's Report

I would like to introduce myself and thank everyone for the opportunity to serve on this board.  I have a long history with foodservice, but I never thought I would end up in school foodservice. The foodservice industry is an industry of dedication and one must have a desire to serve and help others. I am consistently reminded of this in the day-to-day events and amazing work that all districts do to ensure all of New Mexico’s students are fed healthy and nutritious meals. It is a great pleasure to be a part of this commitment, and I will stand here to support every district in our journey to feeding our students. 

2025 Awards

At our Annual State Conference at Buffalo Thunder this past June, we awarded the following people for their dedication and exemplary service to their students and districts, and to our state.

They are:   

Director of the Year - Sandra Kemp, from Albuquerque Public Schools.

Manager of the Year - Kaye Campos, from Carlsbad Schools.

And also our "Friends of the Association":

Michael A. Chavez, NM Public Education Department

Roger A. Gonzales, President, The Gonzales Strategy Group

Travis Young, President of Education - Elior

Congratulations to all and thank you for going that extra mile for our programs and NMSNA.

Don’t forget these awards are done yearly and you can nominate a SN employee who deserves to be recognized.  Check the SNA website and nominate your Director, Manager or fellow Employee in February 2026 when the nomination period opens up.

Membership

Moving on to updates on membership, this year we have a total of approximately 623 members.  This year I would like to encourage everyone to work on increasing membership by 10% of our current membership.  With as large as NM is we can do this.  Our regional chairs have already started spreading the news and the links below will provide you information on the current membership campaign SNA is currently holding.  I have also attached a flyer that lists the benefits of becoming a member. I personally challenge all you to become a member if you are not currently and to invite a coworker/peer to join with you. 

Membership2025-26-State-Affiliates-Flyer.pdf

Membership2024-Member-Benefits-Flyer-With-Crop-Marks.pdf

 Thank you for all your hard work and dedication

 Maria Guerra

Vice-President, NMSNA

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Letter from your Past President/ Nominating Chair

Welcome back to another school year New Mexico Lunch Ladies and School Food Dudes. As past president of the New Mexico School Nutrition Association, I am responsible for looking for members who would be interested in running for vice president - and this year the position of secretary.

If you have ever wanted to get involved in the Association’s board (NMSNA) now is your chance. It has done wonders for my career by getting involved and it can for you. Taking on a leadership role can advance your career and ensure your voice is heard in uncertain times.  And if you ever had dreams of any type of national role, this would be your first step.

If you or anyone you know that would be interested you can reach out to either me, Dean Gallegos, [email protected] or to our current president Hollie Valenzuela at [email protected]

Thank you and have a great year!

Dean Gallegos
NMSNA Nominating Chair

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Letter from the NMSNA Executive Director

SNA is calling on all members to share input on top school meal policy priorities and help inform the 2026 Position Paper!   

• On October 1, SNA members should have received an email with a link to complete the Association’s annual Position Paper survey – this is your chance to weigh in on SNA’s advocacy priorities for the coming year. 

• School nutrition directors and supervisors will also be asked about program trends, workforce challenges and staffing issues.  

• Every SNA member who completes the Position Paper and Trends survey will be entered into a drawing to win one of two FREE registrations to SNA’s 2026 Legislative Action Conference! Learn more.  

Our NMSNA Scholarship Opportunity.

The window to apply for the Lyman Graham Scholarship also opened up October 1^st.  Another opportunity to attend the 2026 Legislative Action Conference in Washington, DC.  To join your fellow NMSNA professionals to advocate for child nutrition programs.  You will meet with your state legislators or their staff to speak and advocate for their support for the students you feed daily.  Go to  our website at https://nmsna.com/Lyman_Graham_Scholarship for more details on requirements and how to apply. Due date for essay is Friday, November 7, 2025 

NMSNA Website

Members, update your profile on the NMSNA website.  As a member you have access to contact information for all members giving you the opportunity to reach out, inquire about how they may have solved an issue you might be having, share information, recipes and more.  Go to nmsna.com, select Member Area on the left and you will see a drop-down list.  Select Update Member Profile, log in and scroll down adding information as well as upload a picture of yourself.  The list of members are shown under the membership directory tab.

Janet Sanchez

Executive Director of NMSNA

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Legislative News

The Government is shut down, now what?

 Recently I attended a zoom hosted by SNA to discuss advocacy efforts that are ongoing in Washington.  The first topic of the discussion was about a possible government shutdown, and what will happen to school food service programs.  SNA has good communication established with USDA.  They are told that most states will have a small 1–3-month advance payment cushion from USDA in order to pay claims.  That amount will vary from state to state.  NMPED has confirmed that reimbursements will still go out as planned at least through the end of the year.  USDA will have contingency plans published should the government shutdown continue into 2026. 

In the news…

Congress recently passed the Big Beautiful Bill that contained many cuts to the federal budget.  It is not known yet how these cuts will affect school meals.  Reductions to CEP percentages and cuts to SNAP benefits are among the main concerns.  Any changes that happen will be deferred until 2027.  Another item in the news is the Make America Healthy Again initiative that is aiming to reduce or illuminate ultra processed foods from school meals.  There is currently no official definition for “ultra processed”.  SNA is currently in talks with USDA and other entities to codify a clear definition.  Part of the strategy in defining ultra processed will be to look at ingredients rather than how the food is put together.  The thinking is that just because a food item is prepared in a factory, that doesn’t automatically mean it isn’t healthy.  Looking at ingredients and how the food is prepared would be the goal of manufacturers and organization like SNA.

New Mexico SNA Legislative Plan

This year New Mexico has a 30-day legislative session.  The goal for NMSNA is to present to the Legislative Finance and Senate Finance committees about the need for fully funding Healthy Universal School Meals.  As the Legislative Chair, I will work closely with our Lobbyist Roger Gonzales to create a strategy for these presentations.  We hope to be able to secure time in front of the committees before the session begins.  Another strategy will be to visit lawmakers during the session, and have a special NMSNA day designated for our recognition.  This day would be used to visit with law makers and bring recognition to our organization’s efforts.  Anyone interested in joining us for these legislative action days, please reach out to Sonya Moore at [email protected].

Sonya Moore, SNS

Legislative Chair

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Region 1 Report

On August 6, 2025, Bernalillo Public Schools coordinated a "Chef Symposium" for their staff composed of Rational Chefs, SSWB Staff, and local Food Service Brokers. 

The intent of the Symposium was to create a platform for transforming food into scratch, and speed scratch, breakfast and lunch entrees that would meet the new  HUSM (Healthy Universal School Meals) rule. 

Creating new innovated recipes, receiving industry insights, training with professional chefs, culinary professionals, and related stakeholders was an innovated way to discuss new trends, sustainable practices, and new techniques. This event offered a variety of culinary demonstrations, and training opportunities for our staff. It also provided valuable knowledge to our food service team, involved them in the entire process, which allowed them to voice their opinions, give suggestions and embrace the new changes with such positivity and the willingness to change.

Creating a Chef Symposium in collaboration with our Industry Brokers helped foster a sense of togetherness and willingness to learn.

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Bloomfield Schools Announcement

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Region 3 Report

As the Region 3 Chair, one of my duties this fall has been to connect with school districts in my area to share the value of belonging to the New Mexico School Nutrition Association. Membership in NMSNA not only provides professional development and training but also gives us a stronger collective voice to advocate for child nutrition programs across the state.

In recent weeks, I reached out to several districts in Region 3 and shared information about the many benefits of membership. Some of the highlights I discussed included:

• Opportunities for staff recognition and growth with SNA’s Awards Program
• Professional development and training opportunities
• Advocacy and a unified voice at the state and national level
• Networking and idea-sharing with colleagues statewide
• A platform to share successes and challenges unique to New Mexico schools

It was nice to hear positive feedback and am happy to report that a few districts showed interest in joining NMSNA. I will be following up with them in the coming weeks to answer questions and provide any support needed in the membership application process.

Strengthening our membership is essential to ensuring every district has the support, tools, and representation they need to succeed to build strong programs. We also need to build leadership in our association to ensure that we have a seat at the table in every conversation about student success. I look forward to continuing these conversations and welcoming more Region 3 districts into our association.

Rachel Roybal-Rogers,

NMSNA Region 3 Chair

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Region 6 Report

What is scratch cooking? Many schools are implementing more scratch cooked meals in their Districts or school, under the Healthy Universal School Meals program. HUSM is New Mexico’s program to provide free, nutritious school breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of income, by emphasizing scratch cooked meals, local food sourcing, and reduction of food waste.  At Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community School scratch cooked meals has always been a part of our Food service Department throughout the years I have been Director of Food Service.  

We would like to share some of our students’ favorites homemade meals.  Our students enjoy a variety of homemade food. For breakfast majority of the students enjoy Blue Mush with fresh Berries. Blue Cornmeal mush is common among Navajo people; it’s used for many different gatherings like weddings. Family gatherings etc.

Another breakfast favorite is homemade fruit smoothie and Fruit Parfaits by using up a lot of leftover fruits.

With the scratch cooking being served to students, they enjoy homemade chili beans with cornbread along wth homemade Nacho meat, taco salad, homemade salsa  and dinner rolls, Beef Stew with Blue Cornmeal muffins. These are a few menu items our students enjoy.

Children/students need to have a variety of fruits and vegetables. Many are not familiar with different fruits and vegetables and how it helps their bodies as growing children. 

 MaryLou Nez Begay

Director of Food Service, Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community School

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In Memoriam

This past spring we lost Rhonda Cook, a valued member of the Carlsbad Municipal Schools child nutrition team.

Rhonda absolutely loved feeding the kids and realized that this was one of  her passions in life. She worked with Food service for 11 years, and worked for the district for more than 12. 

Lisa Rhoades, FS Manager for Carlsbad Municipal Schools, had this to say about Rhonda: "She was very crafty and liked to do all kinds of crafts. And she didn't know a stranger, she could talk to anyone like she knew them for a long time. For example, on one of our ANC trips she talked to all of the Uber drivers and knew everything about them by the end of the trip. There was one Uber driver who said she was like his grandma and they exchanged phone numbers and they would talk frequently on the phone after ANC ended. She is deeply missed!"

Rhonda is deeply missed. She could be a real fireball and I always enjoyed my visits with her and very much appreciated her humor, candor, professionalism, passion and support. I am fortunate to have gotten to work with her. There was no one else quite like her. ~ Neil Harmeyer, editor

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