Jaileen Stevens
Sioux Falls
Summary
Experienced Food Service Manager with five years in childcare and food safety. Led meal program compliance while promoting effective communication among parents and staff, and implementing allergy awareness initiatives. Maintained high cleanliness standards and adapted to diverse needs, enhancing operational efficiency.
Overview
1
1
Certification
5
5
years of professional experience
Work History
Food Service Manager
Kids Rock! Childcare
Luverne
05.2025 - Current
- Managed daily food service operations for childcare program.
- Supervised food preparation and safety protocols for children.
- Coordinated meal planning to meet nutritional standards.
- Managed daily operations of food service, ensuring compliance with state regulations and health and safety standards.
- Developed and implemented training for staff to enhance service quality, deal with allergies/ food alternatives, and kitchen efficiency.
- Coordinated inventory management, optimizing supply levels to reduce waste and costs, and rotation for stock.
- Completed weekly menu planning, allergy alternatives and shopping for those supplies, and incorporating seasonal ingredients to improve variety for children.
- Led team meetings to address concerns, promote collaboration, and share best practices among staff for the kitchen and classrooms.
- Trained and supervised new staff to enhance skills and comply with food safety standards and state regulations.
- Maintained effective supply levels by monitoring and reordering food stock and dry goods and making sure all invoices/credits get printed for accounting.
- Promoted a positive work environment by fostering open communication among team members and resolving conflicts effectively.
- Enhanced safety protocols for both employees and children by adhering to strict food handling guidelines, ensuring proper storage of ingredients, and maintaining up-to-date training for kitchen and equipment usage.
- Cultivated an inclusive atmosphere that fostered collaboration between diverse team members within the kitchen space.
- Maintained compliance with company policies and procedures for food safety, sanitation, and quality.
- Ensured high standards of cleanliness and sanitation with regular inspections and staff training. This got us 100% on our health inspection!
- Planned, ordered food/beverages, and set up all of the parent breakfast events (donuts for dad’s muffins for mom’s and hoping to do a granola with grandparents)
- Efficiently opened and closed the building or ran the building alone while also cooking and maintaining kitchen duties and staff.
- Assisted in correcting, creating, and updating child files while also communicating with other admin staff and parents to get all of the correct information and documents needed to complete them.
- Assisting in classrooms for ratio purposes or lunch breaks. Taking behavioral children for teachers when needed and assisting teachers in methods to defuse and prevent behaviors (such as love and logic or positive reinforcement)
- Communication for building supply stock, classroom/gym/playground problems to maintenance, classroom supplies, and curriculum supplies.
Food service manager/Closing manager/Lead teacher
Bloom n Grow Academy
Harrisburg
12.2022 - 03.2025
- Food service and closing manager from December 2023 to March 2025.
- Trained and focused on CACFP food program while in my position, tracking temperature logs, filling out food production records, completing meal counts, doing monthly totals for the amount of children that we provided meals to, determining whether each child and family was free, reduced or paid on the program, and submitting all paperwork to the state.
- Tracked food production levels, meal counts, and supply costs.
- Maintained effective supply levels by monitoring and reordering food stock and dry goods.
- Controlled weekly menus and inventory costs through hands-on management and proactive changes.
- Promoted a positive work environment by fostering open communication among team members and families for food allergies and any accommodations necessary for children in my care.
- Enhanced safety protocols for both employees and children by adhering to strict food handling guidelines, ensuring proper storage of ingredients, and maintaining up-to-date certifications on equipment usage.
- Maintained compliance with company policies and procedures for food safety, sanitation, and quality.
- Ensured high standards of cleanliness and sanitation with regular inspections and staff training.
- Prepared weekly schedules and assigned tasks to staff to maintain organized shift and smooth operations within the daycare to ensure each classroom had clean water bottles and blankets for their children daily.
- I maintained the kitchen with cooking and dishes while also making sure that countertops and floors along with any food storage space or cooking utensil were clean and done in a timely manner.
- I made sure all classroom closing, ratios, and adequate staffing was managed from 4 PM until 6:30 PM.
- From Dec 2022-Dec 2023 led the preschool classroom for a preschool classroom for 5 months with a ratio of 10 children alone. In that time, served as lead teacher in an infant classroom for 3 months with a 10 to 2 ratio. Then also helped to correct the two-year-old classroom for 4 months taking over the lead position in that classroom to help with behaviors, classroom cleanliness, function of the classroom, and curriculum.
Lead Infant Teacher
The Playhouse nursery school
Baltic
01.2022 - 12.2022
- Enhanced infant development by implementing age-appropriate activities and lessons.
- Created and executed lesson plans, implemented school curriculum and assessed developmental needs of students to develop to fullest potential and achieve learning objectives.
- Maintained confidentiality of children, family information and staff.
- Planned and executed appropriate schedule and activities for children each day, creating fun, engaging and exciting learning environment by singing songs, creating fun, hands-on sensory activities, and reading engaging stories to children.
- Trained and mentored new teachers on best practices in infant care.
- Implemented creative play strategies to enhance social skills and interaction.
- Maintained classroom organization and cleanliness for optimal learning conditions.
- Facilitated communication between staff to ensure smooth daily operations.
- Followed safe feeding guidelines and parental requests for breastmilk, formula and solids.
- Maintained daily records of activities, behaviors, meals served, naps taken. for each child.
Lead Preschool Teacher
Lil Friends Learning Center
Tea
07.2021 - 01.2022
- Assisted and supervised 10-15 children through entire school day.
- Established strong relationships with parents through regular communication regarding their child's progress, fostering increased parental involvement in the educational process.
- Conducted regular parent-teacher conferences to discuss student progress and areas of improvement, encouraging a collaborative approach to education.
- Incorporated play-based learning opportunities into daily routines, allowing students to explore new concepts while developing critical thinking skills through hands-on experiences.
- Enhanced preschoolers learning experiences by incorporating creative and interactive teaching methods in daily lessons.
- Designed engaging lesson plans for diverse preschool age groups.
- Fostered a safe and nurturing classroom environment for children.
- Collaborated with parents to support children's developmental needs.
- Maintained compliance with state regulations and licensing requirements for preschools.
- Organized and maintained a safe learning environment for children, including supervision of indoor and outdoor playtime.
- Maintained daily records of individual activities, behaviors, meals and naps.
Education
Lincoln High School
Sioux Falls, SDSkills
- Staff leadership
- Staff communication
- Parent communication
- Portion control
- Food preparation
- Food storage management
- Allergy awareness
- Ordering supplies
- Menu diversity
- Positive attitude
- Pressure adaptability
- Environmental adaptability
- Team initiative
- Creating, updating, and maintaining files
- Allergy information management
- Parent and staff messages
- Event coordination
- Supply inventory and ordering
- Classroom support
- Assisting in curriculum and classroom supplies or ideas
- Creative event planning
Certification
- Servsafe certified
Timeline
Food Service Manager
Kids Rock! Childcare
05.2025 - Current
Food service manager/Closing manager/Lead teacher
Bloom n Grow Academy
12.2022 - 03.2025
Lead Infant Teacher
The Playhouse nursery school
01.2022 - 12.2022
Lead Preschool Teacher
Lil Friends Learning Center
07.2021 - 01.2022
Lincoln High School