Behind the Service: Meet the Grand View Dining Staff
The holiday season is a time to be appreciative for everything we have. At times, it can be easy to get caught up in the dazzling lights and presents. We can forget to remember the people who do so much for the Grand View community on a daily basis. Much of their hard work is often overlooked.
The dining center serves hundreds of students and staff every day, and it takes several people to make it all possible, people you might not know much about.
Courtney Norman, Food Services
Courtney Norman runs the grill station at the Carlson Commons. She grills everything from burgers to chicken breasts at her station. // VF File Photo by Meghan Gerke
Courtney Norman, a Pleasant Hill native, came to Grand View about six months ago. You can typically find Norman working the grill during the day. But she is not just flipping patties; she also has a degree as a certified chef. She can grill, sauté, poach, bake or make just about anything your stomach craves. She comes in at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday to make sure the grilling station is prepared with all of Grand View’s favorite entrées. Although making excellent food is Norman’s craft, there is another aspect of her job she enjoys even more.
“I like the people,” Norman said. “I mean, (the students) don’t really get bothered by much, and if (they) have to wait for the service, the students are really nice. Most people are willing to wait for good food.”
Norman was 14 years old when she first recognized her passion for catering. She started out making food in her own home, and 10 years later, she still pursues her dream. At one point, she thought about going into graphic design, but she decided against it.
“It’s too much of a desk job,” Norman said. “I don’t like sitting at a desk all day. I am more of a hands-on person.”
Norman said Grand View has had a positive impact on her. Norman enjoys the simple things in life, including, the sense of community that she has found on campus.
Christy Hribal, Food Services
Christy Hribal is from Mount Pleasant, Ia. After she graduated from high school, she moved to Creston, Ia, with her ex-husband.
“We got married, (and) had kids,” Hribal said. “We sadly ended up getting a divorce, and then about three years ago, I lost my son in a car accident. I still have my 15-year- old daughter, but I could not live in Creston anymore. It was too painful.”
Soon after the tragic loss of her son, Hribal moved to Des Moines to start a new chapter in her life. When Hribal was looking on the internet for jobs in Des Moines area, she stumbled across a job posting for a position at Grand View. She set up an interview and was hired on the same day. Hribal was a cook at her children’s school in the past, but she said being a mom helped prepare her for the position as well.
She has been on campus for approximately a year. During the day, you can find Hribal working the salad bar. Most of what goes on during the day is unseen by the students.
“A lot of hustle and bustle goes on in the kitchen in the back,” Hribal said. “I have a special salad that I make every day. I start setting up by 9:30 a.m.”
Most of the prep work for the food is done before students even wake up. Hribal and the rest of the staff work hard every morning to make sure the students have breakfast and lunch prepared before they walk through the dining center’s doors. Hribal’s favorite part about working in the dining center is the people.
“At lunch [all the dining staff] eat together,” Hribal said. “We are one happy family.”
According to Hribal, she has grown to love the Grand View community because it is strong.
She loves talking with students and hearing about how their day is going. Because she is out working in front of the salad bar, she has had the chance to get to know some students personally. If she is not chatting with students or preparing her “salad of the day,” Hribal enjoys going mudding with her boyfriend.
“We have a truck that we take mudding all the time,” Hribal said. “My boyfriend does all the work on (it); I’m just along for the ride. Since we’ve been in Des Moines, we haven’t found many good spots yet, but we make road trips.”
The truck is currently broken down, but according to Hribal, that is the fun of mudding.
Spending time with her family is important, and mudding has helped bring her family together. When the mudding adventures come to an end during the week, it is back to the salad bar for Hribal.
She said if there is one thing that she would like for Grand View to know about the staff at the dining center, it is that if they don’t say anything, they’re not being rude, they’re just working.
“We’re into our work,” Hribal said. “We try to socialize and talk with the kids every day. Students may not always see that with the day shift.”
Shannon Mitchell, Executive Chef
Shannon Mitchell is from California. She said with the economy being so awful a few years back, and the cost of living rising, she wanted a better life for herself and her daughter. She had a friend who lived in Iowa, and her dad had also grown up here, so after talking with them, she agreed to move to Iowa to get a job.
“I went to California Culinary Academy and graduated in 2002,” Mitchell said. “Right after the culinary academy, I went into catering for movies and TV shows. I did that for about seven years (and) I worked on American Idol, Cold Case, World Trade Center, Elizabeth Town, Hollywood Land. There is a huge list.”
After living in Iowa for two years, she applied for a job in dinging services. Not long after applying, Mitchell became the executive chef.
“I take care of all the students in the dining center,” Mitchell said. “I make sure you guys get fed, (and) I listen to what you guys want, such as the pasta bar.”
Although Mitchell has only been at Grand View for a month, her ‘tweaks,’ as she said, have made an impact. One of the new things Mitchell introduced is the fried chicken patties.
“Aramark (the Grand View dining service) has that all set up, but I can tweak anything I want,” Mitchell said. “Having the fried chicken patties, that was not originally on the Aramark menu. They are extremely popular. We go through about four to five cases per meal.”
Mitchell innovates a lot for the dining center. She enjoys thinking of new and creative foods to add to the dining center to enhance the overall experience for students, faculty and staff. One thing she enjoys even more than innovating is making people smile.
“It’s fun coming to work and seeing people smile,” Mitchell said. “It’s seeing the smiles on people’s faces (that) makes working 12 hours a day worth it.”
Outside of her job, Mitchell enjoys gaming. She plays a plethora of games, including Call of Duty, Destiny, Medal of Honor and Battlefield. Although she loves the smiles, taking it to you on Call of Duty is part of her vocabulary. She’s not a competitive gamer, but she likes playing in public matches, testing her skills against fellow gamers and maybe even feeding them a little friendly smack talk.
But don’t let the smack talk fool you, she is friendly and helpful as can be when it comes to her job.
“I am here for (the students), and I will listen to (their) wants and desires about anything in the dining room,” Mitchell said. “I will try to make it happen if it’s within a reasonable request. Just come talk to me if you have problems.”
Terence Blain, Assistant Food Service Director
When Blain is not working at Grand View, he can be found outdoors. // VF File Photo by Meghan Gerke
Terence Blain is from Montezuma, Ia, and has been working in food services for about 25 years. He started out his career working for Starbucks in Seattle. He eventually moved to Chicago to work for a dining service contractor and opened up a new Starbucks in downtown Chicago. A year later, Blain was contacted by another contractor, Aramark. He then moved on to open yet another Starbucks at the University of Chicago, where he helped manage a variety of services within the university’s food court. Eventually, Blain looked to move back home to Iowa.
“In the spring of last year, I came and met with Mary-Pat, who was the director at the time,” Blain said. “Of course, I knew there was a new facility being built. I was pretty impressed with Grand View and the things that had happened here over a number of years. I remember growing up, it didn’t look anything like this.”
As the assistant food service director, Blain is responsible for Grand View’s retail locations and catering. He oversees Einstein’s and Grand View Express, and he is the sales manager and execution of events coordinator for events regarding catering. Occasionally, he will help out at the dining center as well.
“It’s very exciting to be in a brand new facility. With that comes a lot of challenges, and that’s just what they are, challenges,” Blain said. “There is a learning curve because of that. Week after week I see incremental improvements in what we’re doing, and I think we are doing a better job at serving the students. We are listening to what the students have to say, and we’re continuing to make this a great program.”
Blain is a busy man around campus; between catering, Grand View Express and Einstein’s, he rarely finds time for the things he loves to do outside of his job. When he does get a chance, the great outdoors call his name.
“I really do like the outdoors,” Blain said. “I like hiking, and I like camping, but I haven’t really been afforded the opportunity to do that this year.”
Other than his love for the outdoors, Blain can be found roaming upstairs in the Student Center almost every day. He wants people to know they can come to him with questions.
“The most important thing is that people should feel like I’m approachable,” Blain said. “I certainly have a way of wanting things done so that we can all be successful. We’re here to serve the students and serve the community because that’s what Aramark is about.”
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