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These are the type of choices the students at Mancelona Public Schools will have this year.

Last year, the schools privatized their food services with a company called Chartwells. On Monday, representatives came to train the chefs in Mancelona and show them the recipes, menus and presentation. "Profile training gets the kinks out,"said Keith Verellen, the new dining food director for Mancelona Schools who has set up his office in the middle school. "It's hands-on and lets them make mistakes. It's all come together."

After a morning of training and preparing, teachers, principals and school board members were invited to come taste the school lunch. These lunches are not a greasy rectangular slab of pizza with a side of tater tots in a small aluminum foil plate, that most imagine when they think "school lunch."No, this cafeteria has various sections the kids can choose from including, Sandwich Central, The Fresh Grille and Trattoria. The greasy pizza has become a three-cheese spinach calzone. The canned pineapple in a cup has become fresh strawberries, grapes and sliced oranges. The hamburger has become a cheddar and barbecue chicken burger.

The students will still have the old options though. At the grill station, hamburgers and cheeseburgers are available daily in addition to the daily special. The same is true at the trattoria, where cheese and pepperoni pizza are always an option, but students could try a special of chicken tetrazini or stromboli.

One section of the cafeteria is called, "Origins"and always has homemade food like baked macaroni and cheese or marinated vegetables.

It seems like this kind of food would be much harder to prepare, but Charlie Short, head cook at the high school, said it isn't too difficult. "There's a little more preparation,"he said. "But the kids are going to like it a lot more."

According to Short, he is the only full-time employee back this year with the change of food service providers and he is working with eight new staff. The main difference with Chartwells is the presentation.

"The kids are going to be blown over,"Short said. "When something looks good, it usually is good."

Cathy McCarty is a part-time chef who stayed through the turnover and was training with Chartwells Monday.

"The food is healthier too,"she added.

Healthy food is the main point.

"I want it to be as healthy as possible. We strive for a healthier lunch and breakfast program,"Verellen said.

There are whole wheat options, in the bread and even in the breading on the chicken nuggets. Verellen said it isn't a lot more expensive to make healthier food.

"It's just taking away the sugar and fats and finding a way to still make it taste good,"he said.

For the most part, everything in the cafeteria is baked but they do have a deep fryer in the back for special occasions.

"We don't want to take everything away from them,"Verellen added.

The test will now be to see if the students go for the healthier choices. Verellen said many middle school and high school kids are more health conscious than they used to be.

"There's a better presentation,"Short said. "We're excited about it."

Hadley Robinson can be reached at hrobinson@michigannewspapers.com or by calling 231-533-8523.