St. Cloud Area School District‘s new Supervisor of Nutritional Services Sarah Motl’s love and passion for nutrition and curiosity about its impact on the body came from a very personal place. Her brother’s severe ulcerative colitis diagnosis, while he was in high school, prompted a comprehensive change to her family’s diet to accommodate his illness. It was a process that changed several times after each of his surgeries to remove portions of his colon. Motl witnessed first-hand how a change in a person’s diet could alter one’s life.
After her dietary experiences in high school, Motl attended North Dakota State University to receive her bachelor’s degree in dietetics. She then went on to do a combined dietetics internship with the University of Memphis where she received her master’s degree in clinical nutrition.
“I pictured myself working in the hospital setting,” remembers Motl. “I really liked the trauma ICU, doing tube feedings and things like that.”
However, small-town living called to Motl and her husband. The pair moved to Wisconsin after graduation where she became a clinical dietician for Burnett Medical Center. She worked in critical access, outpatient and nursing care. Because Motl was the only dietician working in the small rural county, she was also immersed in public health.
“I really kind of fell in love with public health,” shares Motl. “I loved working with a huge community to make an impact with my skills and abilities.”
Soon, she became the public health planner for Isanti County in Minnesota and then was promoted a year later to community health supervisor. Four years later, her passion grew into a love for preventative health.
“I wanted to get into using my nutrition education,” says Motl. “I wasn’t using that a ton with my public health position, and so, really [I was] looking at continuing to work with a large community and in a community-type setting but be able to use my nutrition education.”
An old friend from college encouraged Motl to look into school nutrition.
“She always told me how great it is and how amazing it is,” laughs Motl. “So, I just kept my eye out. Now I’m here and love it.”
Motl feels she’s able to use her nutrition education along with her management and flexibility skills in her District 742 role. The last two years in public health, she’s learned things can turn on a dime and understands how to be creative and alter plans when things don’t go as scheduled. That skill has proved invaluable in school nutrition for the past two years during a global pandemic.
Currently, Motl is reviewing upcoming menus. She’s looking for a way to allow the cooks to have a little bit more flexibility and creativity while staying within nutritional guidelines. She’s also in the process of creating student advisory groups at both of the high schools to gather input on food choices and to encourage students to try new foods. The advisory also gives students the opportunity to have a stake in their own health.
“Just instilling in these kids healthy eating habits will hopefully carry over into their home life,” says Motl. “Hopefully, we’re setting that stage for lifelong eating habits. Those habits that we form early in life continue to grow.”
“I’ve done a lot of work in my previous job with adverse childhood experiences and brain development,” explains Motl. “One phrase they have for brain development is ‘what fires together, wires together.’ So, when your brain is little, it makes tons … of connections. But when you get into teenage years, it prunes a lot of those away and the only ones that stay are consistently firing over and over … Creating those pathways and habits early on, those are the ones that will most likely continue on.”
Motl plans to impact the lives of District 742 students one bite at a time.
On a personal note, Motl has three daughters. When she isn’t trying to ensure nutrition for 9,000+ students, she’s teaching her girls healthy eating habits as well as exercise. She and her husband love to go on nature walks, bike rides and go to parks with their girls. She and her family spend time at her parents’ lake home, go camping or attend a baseball game during the summer months.
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