Photo submitted to Times Observer Beaty-Warren Middle School cafeteria staff and Nutrition Group personnel (from left) Cook Barbi Parker, Cafe Manager Melissa Bullock, and Foodservice Director Scott Johnson work with a new, grant-funded Combi Oven at Beaty.

The Warren County School District is upgrading some of its kitchen equipment thanks to about $70,000 in grants.

New Combi Ovens will replace Stackable Convection Ovens in use at Beaty-Warren Middle School and Warren Area Elementary Center.

Those two kitchens provide a total of over 700 breakfasts and over 1,000 lunches to school district and Head Start students each day — with about 170 breakfasts and 370 lunches served at Beaty, 280 and 415 at WAEC, and 280 of each prepared at Beaty for Head Start.

The Combi Ovens will replace equipment that was 11 years old at WAEC and 13 years old at Beaty.

“The Combi Ovens are the new modern state of technology in cooking that The Nutrition Group has been converting many of their kitchen facilities into using, replacing existing steamers and ovens,” according to Nutrition Group, the district’s Food Service Management Company. “Combi Ovens combine the best of the convection oven and steam cookers to give you moist, flavorful food with even browning and quicker cooking times to keep up with the volume of students being fed daily.”

“Both steam and convection heat are used to give food a crisp and golden exterior while keeping it moist and preserving its healthy nutrients,” according to Nutrition Group.

The grant amounts were $34,725 for Beaty and $33,719.13 for WAEC.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education announced the grants — more than $946,000 statewide.

“Healthy bodies fuel healthy minds, and a critical aspect of learning depends on access to nutritious meals,” Secretary of Education Dr. Noe Ortega said. “These grants will help schools upgrade their facilities to continue to provide critical food services to students in communities across the commonwealth.”

The School Food Equipment grants were funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program.