School lunch professionals from across the Cornhusker State came to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s East Campus June 2-6 to learn more about how to create more efficient school kitchens and healthier meals for its kids.

The Child Nutrition Training Academy, hosted by the university’s Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management program in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Education, includes sessions on topics like nutrition, food safety, management and menu planning, as well as lab sessions, where participants got to prepare some simple recipes from a variety of flavor profiles.

“We’re always going to find a way to serve lunch,” said Renee Cornett, food and nutrition services operations manager for Gretna Public Schools. “Even for simple recipes, if you learn a faster way or a way to organize your kitchen, once in a while you can have (something different).”

Ajai Ammachathram, associate professor and program director of Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management, said the goal of the week-long workshop is to help the 50-plus attendees learn practical skills, understand resources and gain ideas for how to utilize nutritious ingredients in multiple ways to create varied menus.

“It gives them the tools they need to make healthy, tasty meals while staying on top of all the rules,” he said. “The training ensures that staff are not only compliant with federal and state regulations but are also empowered to create appealing, nutritious meals that support student health and learning.”

Ammachathram said providing training in these areas and ways to incorporate nutrient-dense, fresh items in Nebraska students’ meals boosts academic performance, improves mood and behavior in the classroom and encourages lifelong healthy eating habits.

“When kids eat fresh, nutritious food, they feel better, focus more, and do better in school,” he said. “It helps their bodies and brains grow strong. Plus, when meals look and taste good, kids are more likely to eat them—and that means fewer hungry students and happier classrooms.”

Brenda Windmuller, a consultant for the workshop who led the cooking lesson on Latin American dishes on June 4, said she wanted to offer small, manageable changes the participants might be able to make in their schools. The recipes were designed to demonstrate ways, for example, to substitute fresher ingredients when possible while still complying with regulations on school menus.

“They would make their own seasoning blend instead of going to the store and buying something premade that has a lot of sodium in it, or using fresh limes instead of buying lime juice,” Windmuller said.

Food professionals in all areas are looking for ways to incorporate more cooking from scratch, Windmuller said, in part because it is the best way to ensure more nutrient-rich ingredients, as opposed to pre-prepared items that might be microwaved or reheated.

“They’re convenient but they come with extra preservatives like sodium, which we know is not a healthy lifestyle,” Windmuller said. “By teaching these skills, how to cut fresh fruits and vegetables, how to source locally, it all plays together.”

Dusty Stevens, food service director for Superior Public Schools, said she appreciated that the recipes from the lab sessions were created with a school kitchen setting in mind. For Stevens, the information about menu planning was some of the most valuable. Most schools struggle with budget and staffing shortages in their kitchens, she said, and she said the workshop helps participants make the most of their staff and funds while still providing meals the students want to eat.

“They’re not just walking into the lunchroom every day and it’s exactly the same,” she said. “It’s recipes for schools specifically, because there’s a lot of recipes we’d love to try but sitting down and formulating it properly is daunting.”

Learning the best ways to source and prepare fresh ingredients has educational benefits to kids along with the nutritional ones. Proper preparation results in better flavor, so kids understand what healthy foods they like to eat but also what those foods are supposed to taste like, and they’ll be more likely to continue to eat those foods.

“If they get a hard cantaloupe, they’ll know, ‘That one wasn’t as good but I still like cantaloupe,’” Cornett said.

Cornett said the opportunity to connect with other school lunch professionals was one of the most valuable parts of the experience. She and another attendee shared workarounds and tips for a software both districts used.

“You have a problem and they’ve found a different solution or another approach, so that’s really useful,” Cornett said. “(They might have) different ways of packaging things we haven’t thought of.”

Stevens said even simply having the support of other professionals who deal with the same problems is helpful.

“You learn so much from your peers,” Stevens said.

On the latest HuskerMax Today, Nick Handley and Kaleb Henry discuss what’s missing for Nebraska baseball to make a postseason run beyond regionals.

Below is a lightly edited transcript, and continue scrolling to watch the full segment.

Kaleb: Let me ask you this. Will Bolt has coached five full seasons now. This team has won a third of the Big Ten titles that have been handed out over that time. They’ve made three regionals.

For this program going forward, how far away or how close are they to… not even hosting a regional because you look at the super regionals and there are seven unseeded teams that advanced into the super regional round. There will be an unseeded team in Omaha because of the way the bracket laid out.

You’ve got Murray State taking on Duke, both of those unseeded teams. And you’ve got Louisville and Miami. Those are power conference teams, Arizona. But you’ve also got a UTSA who advanced in there. The top two national seeds went down this past weekend.

So when you’re looking at, Nebraska, and you look at, hey, it’s working for these teams. Why is it working for these teams and the leagues that they play in and the resources Nebraska has compared to the resources they have, the resources Big Ten programs in general have, even if baseball is lower on the spending priority than some of the other sports compared to what the ACC does or the SEC does or even the Big 12?

What’s that thing that’s missing for Nebraska? Is it having a deeper bullpen? Is it having more guys that can hit 95 on the radar gun? Is it having – you look at some – like we saw last year when Nebraska was playing Florida, it seemed like every guy was cookie-cutter. They were all 6-6, 240 pounds, just up and down the lineup. What is that thing – if there is one – that’s missing for Nebraska from that step that hasn’t happened in twenty years?

Nick: I come from a thought of strong and deep pitching is going to take you very, very far. Rotational, elite arms, for sure. I think Ty Horn is there. I think what you got between Jackson Brockett and Will Walsh was guys that utilize their stuff really good but didn’t have explosive fastballs.

And look, it’s not all about the velocity. You can have guys that throw 96, 97 miles an hour, but if they have no movement and they’re relying heavily on that, they become predictable. They haven’t developed that that complimentary breaking ball or change up well enough. You’re going to get hit just the same as anybody throwing 86, 87.

But I think when you do have those types of players that – again, I’ll use the Ty Horn example of a guy that as he continued to find success in the second half of the year, you would watch him maybe in the third and the fourth inning, and all of a sudden that breaking ball – gained more depth. It became more devastating because then that fastball, even at 93 or 94, would come by and you’d have no shot catching up to it. So guys that have that type of stuff that can bring you a 93, 94-plus fastball, but are also coming right back with an explosive slider or a changeup that’s just dropping off the table. You know, those types of guys.

Mason McConnaughey had all of that. And, you know, we don’t know what’s going to happen with Mason because of that injury and his draft stock and everything. I mean, there is a decision there. I don’t think Nebraska is necessarily counting on him coming back, but you never know. And I know they love him, and I know he loves this program.

This is the one thing that I looked at Oklahoma and I was really impressed with. Every guy that they ran out there was 95-plus. Mm hmm. We saw Crossland, the guy that – his numbers weren’t great. Now, mind you, he’s pitching in the SEC. But he was in control of that game. And, yeah, sure, it’s easy to throw a lot of strikes and challenge hitters when you have the type of cushion that he had. But his stuff was really good. They threw a freshman at the end of that game against North Carolina the previous night, and that kid was throwing 95, 96 miles an hour as well.

I think when you do have some of those power arms – because, look, the way we are in college baseball is – and you brought up UTSA. Perfect example. You’re watching their guy throw 97. Those those arms are out there.

And this is what I love that Nebraska has is you got Rob Childress. Give Rob Childress just even some raw ability, a kid with raw ability, and two years, Rob will have that guy refined, and have that guy effective. So I think it starts there. I think you want to see more of those Mason McConnaughey types. I’m not trying to make it sound like they’re easy to find, but they’re out there. And if they’re developed by Rob Childress, I’ll put my money on that all day.

Kaleb: And it’s not that Nebraska hasn’t had those guys. Obviously, Mason McConnaughey isn’t what you were expecting coming into this year. But you had Brett Sears. You had the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year a year ago. You could go back, under Will Bolt, you had Cade Povich. You had Spencer Schwellenbach.

Nick: And look what those seasons led to. In 2021, Nebraska was in the regional conversation until Rutgers came into town. But they were a big part of the regional host conversation last year. If Nebraska wins a couple more midweeks, they’re in the regional host conversation. So you see the connection there. You mentioned two bona fide aces.

And then this year, Mason McConnaughey, we don’t get to see him go past Sam Houston third week of the season. Again, not trying to say Nebraska all of a sudden in the regional host, but there’s that connection of when you’ve got big-time arms, big-time guys, what it does to the rest of your staff and what it can do in series that, unfortunately, Nebraska wasn’t winning in March.

Kaleb: And that’s where I’m at when you look at this team and this program on the what’s missing. To me, it’s the second guy. Coming into this year, you were expecting to have Mason McConnaughey, but who is “Mason McConnaughey light”? Who is that 1a, 1b instead of here’s your number one and then here’s your number two?

That’s the part that Nebraska, if they can ever get that – last year, if you have Brett Sears and then you have an immediate second ace, not somebody who – I know Brockett threw a no-hitter. I know that. And you saw what guys were able to do with amazing performances in the Big Ten Tournament and a lot of one-off or kind of hit and miss on success. But that one guy that’s just – they’re expected to be a dude every single night out. A little bit of what you saw in the last two appearances from Ty Horn.

How can you get that type of consistency with that elite second arm? To me, that’s the part that’s been missing in that Nebraska has had that ace. And in those seasons, Nebraska has been in a really good position where that ace has been healthy for the bulk of the season. We didn’t get that with Mason this year. But where’s that second guy? How do you get that second guy in there?

You talked about Oklahoma. They have that second guy. Yeah, their ace got roughed up against North Carolina. But there’s a reason you can go into regional and say you don’t have to throw your number one guy because your number two guy is pretty freaking good.

Nick: What you were just saying there with Nebraska a year ago with Sears then to McConnaughey, those are the situations you like to have. I do wonder if the Ty Horn development happens even quicker if you do have a healthy Mason McConnaughey, where it’s not the last month of the season to where you saw a Ty going five innings plus, but where you’re maybe seeing that more in March because of having a bona fide starter, ace, Friday night guy, electric stuff, set the tone where you don’t feel the weight of the world when you’re towing the rubber on that Saturday.

But I do think that Nebraska understands now with this sort of new look Big Ten, and this was maybe the blessing that came with that California road trip. You’re out there. You’re seeing what UCLA is about. We didn’t see Oregon up until the Big Ten Tournament, but you’re seeing what they’re about. You’re seeing that those are offensively – challenging teams.

That sophomore class that UCLA has, that was the number one ranked incoming freshman class from Perfect Game two years ago. And they’re all playing like that. So they got developed. Every major contributor of UCLA, they’re all sophomores. They haven’t been playing college baseball for that long, but there was a lot of talent there, but they got developed and they were able to come together.

You look at what the Oregon team, the Washington team, the USC team, they don’t have to leave the state or at least that section of the country. But you see what Big Ten baseball, if you want to be there at the top, is going to demand you to do. And I don’t think it changes so much of what Nebraska knew they had to do before because when you want to host regionals, you’ve got to be able to do those things anyway.

I think now you have that in-conference example and that in-conference rivalry, if you will, where you’ve got these teams that you’re going to face most years, whether you go out there or they come here. And that style, it’s not your traditional West Coast style. We’re just going to small ball you to death and everything. No, they’re going to slug you. And then they’re going to bring in guys that are throwing 95-plus.

And the beauty of that is you can start broadening your recruiting base a little bit, too, because not all those guys in California are going to find themselves at USC and UCLA and other schools around there. They’re going to want to still play maybe in the Big Ten Conference and be able to have a chance to go out to the West Coast, play in front of family too. There’s advantages there.

But I think I like that Nebraska had a chance to see what those programs were about on their home turf and be able to, let’s say, dramatically change what they’re doing in Lincoln, but give you an idea of, okay, if we want to be at the top and we were in the tournament and we beat two of those teams, how do we be at the top in the regular season, and what do we construct to do that going forward?

Kaleb: I know that we’re in a time of transition on where a lot of money is going and what priorities are, but I’m hoping that the addition – and this was my hope a year ago as well – that with the addition of those West Coast teams, it spurs some development across the Big Ten.

It makes some programs say, we want to take that next step in the same way that, let’s face it, a lot of us were hoping Nebraska was going to do to the league 15 years ago, that you were going to say, no, here’s the big dog swinging the big stick, and realistically, that took some time. Because Nebraska was still figuring stuff out post those College World Series runs. And now for this team and this program, it’s what is that next step?

Watch the full conversation below.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed into law Wednesday a measure banning transgender students from girls’ sports, making the state the latest to keep transgender athletes from competing on women’s and girls’ teams.

Pillen signed the law flanked by dozens of lawmakers, women athletes and other advocates — including former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines, who has made a name for herself as a vocal advocate of banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.

The measure passed by the Nebraska Legislature last week broke a filibuster by a single vote cast along party lines. It was pared down from its initial form, which also sought to bar transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their gender identity.

Sponsors agreed to drop the bathroom and locker room ban when one Republican — Omaha Sen. Merv Riepe — declared he would vote against it otherwise.

The measure was first introduced in 2023 by then-freshman Sen. Kathleen Kauth, but failed to advance as lawmakers angrily argued over Kauth’s other bill that sought to bar gender-affirming care for transgender minors under the age of 19. An amended version that banned gender-affirming surgery — but not all gender-affirming care — for minors later passed and was enacted that year.

On Wednesday, Kauth promised to revive her bathroom and locker room ban next year, reiterating her rejection that people can determine their own gender.

“Men are men and women are women,” she said, and urged voters in Riepe’s district to pressure him to support it.

Republicans behind the sports ban say it protects women and girls and their ability to fairly compete in sports. Opponents say with so few transgender students seeking to participate in sports, the measure is a solution in search of a problem.

Fewer than 10 transgender students have participated in middle school and high school sports in the state over the past decade, according to the Nebraska School Activities Association.

At least 24 other states have adopted similar bans. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order this year intended to dictate which sports competitions transgender athletes can enter and has battled in court with Maine over that state’s allowing transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska denounced the measure.

ACLU Nebraska Executive Director Mindy Rush Chipman said the ban “slams the door shut” for some transgender students to fully participate in their school communities.

“This ban will only create problems, not solve any,” Rush Chipman said, adding that “the constant targeting of LGBTQ+ Nebraskans must stop.”