May 6, 2024 – Friday was National School Lunch Hero Day, the perfect opportunity for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to celebrate the child nutrition employees who keep students happy and healthy every day.
School Lunch Hero Day began in 2013 with a partnership between the School Nutrition Association and children’s book author Jarrett J. Krosoczka, known for the Lunch Lady series of graphic novels that portrays the titular cafeteria worker as a superhero. Most child nutrition workers don’t actually have superpowers, but they’re still capable of being heroes to the students at their schools. Especially in schools with high rates of food insecurity, a well-run cafeteria is a critical source of the daily meals that students need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.
“This is sometimes the only breakfast or lunch that these kids get,” said Heather Mancari, a cafeteria training manager at East Forsyth Middle School. “We make sure that these kids get the food that they need and that they deserve.”
Food service is at the center of a school cafeteria worker’s job, but it’s far from the full picture. Properly operating a cafeteria requires scrupulous attention to sanitation and safety procedures, meal planning and supply management strategies, and a surprising amount of paperwork. There’s also the personnel side of things – they have to work well with a large team, shoulder extra work when understaffed, and help communicate a lot of information to new hires to keep everything running smoothly.
“Our staff don’t just serve food – they have a lot on their plate,” said Executive Director of Child Nutrition Ekta Patel. “They do it all because they really care about our students.”
The extra concern WS/FCS cafeteria workers have for their jobs is reflected in the ingenuity they bring to their menus. For example, School Lunch Hero Day was also an opportunity for Chartwells and DINE WS/FCS to reward the winner of a recent competition to come up with a new recipe using locally sourced beef patties from Ridgefield Farms. The winner was Nicole Surber, who took home a $100 gift card after her pizza burger was a crowd-pleaser with students from East Forsyth Middle.
“Programs like this encourage our whole team to take ownership of the menu,” said Chartwells-WS/FCS Community Engagement and Marketing Specialist Katie Willard. “They’re on the front lines every day and they know what their kids like.”
What truly makes someone a school lunch hero is how they treat people. Great cafeteria workers are an extra smiling face to make students feel valued and wanted at school, sometimes making a life-saving difference by providing them with a tenderly prepared meal. Fortunately for WS/FCS, its students are looked after by hundreds of dedicated school lunch heroes who love their students and love what they do.
“I enjoy feeding the kids and getting to talk to them,” said Child Nutrition PIC Alice Bartlett from East Forsyth Middle. “And I love the staff that I have."