Food for Thought: What Role Does Food Play in Today’s Educational Environment?
Webinar Date: October 16, 2025
1 CEU / AIA LU HSW
Food in schools is more than nutrition—it shapes community, well-being, and safety. This interactive presentation explores how dining spaces can be flexible, inclusive, and engaging. Together we’ll discuss challenges, share ideas, and discover design opportunities to transform dining into a healthier, more connected learning environment for all students.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the role of food and dining spaces in supporting student health, safety, and well-being within educational environments.
- Analyze current trends, community data, and behavioral patterns to understand how students use dining spaces inside and outside of schools.
- Evaluate design strategies that promote inclusivity, mental health, and healthier food choices by addressing diverse student needs, from introverted to extroverted learners.
- Apply evidence-based design considerations—such as scale, visibility, flow, and flexibility—to create dining environments that enhance safety, accessibility, and community connection.
Presenters:
|
|
Hosted by Kelsey Jordan, ALEP, AIA, NCARB, WELL AP, Fitwel, Legat Architects
Kelsey is the Associate Director of PreK-12. As a recipient of the EDMarket NexGen Award she utilizes her passion daily to design stimulating, future-focused learning environments for Legat Architects. She is an experienced educational design professional and licensed architect with an emphasis on education and wellness. Her nationally awarded research explores how health and wellness can be implemented to cause positive change within communities that face multifaceted issues.
|
|
|
Scott Reitano, Reitano Design Group
Through his 39 years in the foodservice industry, Scott has become highly regarded for his change leadership, creativity, and passion for serving others. He brings high energy and an infectious enthusiasm to all the opportunities and challenges he is afforded in life. Scott believes in the concept of Project Leadership. To that end, he is committed to using his foodservice industry knowledge, design expertise, and project process understanding to guide his clients and advise his design partners throughout the completion of facility design and construction.
|