Thinking Outside the Lunchbox
Chicken Wing Tour at Lewisville Independent School District
Aramark Student Nutrition puts the student experience at the forefront with tasting events and culinary innovation.
See how our talented team at Lewisville Independent School District made a familiar dish into a fun, engaging tour.
Lewisville Independent School District
Lewisville Independent School District (LISD) serves as a learning destination for over 49,000 students within its 127-mile radius. Across its 69 campuses, including 10 high schools and 15 middle schools, the district has inspired a mission amongst the high-quality staff, parents, and community to “engage and inspire learners and leaders.” In addition to building the fundamentals for future success, the district prioritizes unique, fun experiences throughout the student experience, especially in their cafeterias.
Chef Alicia Rivera has been with Aramark for 9 years, starting as a food supervisor at one of our college and university accounts. With her tenacity and dedication to her artistry, she has embraced her passion as a talented culinarian and pastry chef, attaining prestigious certifications as a ProChef II from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Certified Executive Pastry Chef from the American Culinary Federation (ACF). She’s won tremendous accolades throughout her career, including Pastry Chef of the Year (2017 to 2019) from ACF and received a Gold Medal honor by ACF while she competed in the 2023 Aramark Culinary Excellence (ACE) competition, and has been featured in numerous publications, including Foodservice Director Magazine and Feed Your Potential 365™.
She joined Aramark Student Nutrition as Executive Chef five years ago and now leads the culinary operations for LISD since 2021. In addition to her role, Chef Alicia shares her cooking expertise and knowledge with the districts we serve across the nation as one of Aramark Student Nutrition’s Culinary Alliance Chefs.
One of her favorite things as a chef for K-12 schools is engaging with students through food. “I’ve learned while working with students is they love to try new things, especially new ingredients and flavors,” said Chef Alicia. “Throughout the year, I like to break the lunchtime norm by introducing new limited-time offers (LTOs) or conducting sampling events to excite students.”
This past school year, Chef Alicia had been finessing a chicken wing recipe she had developed three years ago and wanted to feature the recipe on the menu at one of LISD’s high schools.
“I’ve learned while working with students is they love to try new things, especially new ingredients and flavors.”
The wings would be cooked in an air-fryer method, and students would have the option to pick from different traditional rubs and sauces, ranging from sweet and savory barbecue to classic ranch, Asian-inspired teriyaki and General Tsao, a spicy buffalo sauce, or a tasty combination. Each sample would be accompanied by fresh curly or crinkle-cut fries as a special treat.
“Chicken wings are really popular with kids in the South, especially when it comes to spice,” said Chef Alicia. “Students loved the buffalo sauce; we would go through 5 or 6 gallons a day to keep up with the demand!”
Students' admiration for the wings exceeded their own, as faculty and administration would line up with them to taste this dish, which encouraged the idea of expanding it across the district’s campuses. Inspired by a children’s animated cartoon and video game series Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? she would release clues on the school’s social media to drum up excitement for the next stop on the Chicken Wing Tour.
Engaged principals would join in on the fun and help promote this program throughout the school. “The [Chicken Wing Tour] was a huge hit throughout the student community,” said Kelly Knight, Principal at McKamy Middle School. “We received overwhelmingly positive feedback and buzz amongst students and faculty, even one student asking if they could have them every day!”
The tour stopped at 15 middle schools serving in total over 4,700 reimbursable meals! Meal participation rose by 625 students, of whom were either students who didn’t normally eat at the cafeteria or had stopped eating at the café entirely.
With the program's triumph, Chef Alicia and her team are excited to see what awaits them in the new school year as they start crafting their next tasty district tour dish!
If you are interested in implementing a Chicken Wing Tour program within your district, contact your Aramark Student Nutrition team member to get started.
