By Deb Risden
They’re often called “lunch ladies,” but the women working in school cafeterias are much more than that. For many students, they’re the smiling faces who offer a daily dose of warmth and encouragement, along with a hot meal.
School food programs are run like an individual restaurant, said Monica Deines-Henderson, director of nutrition services for El Paso County School District 49. She said the kitchen lead is the supervisor in charge of their school’s nutrition program. “We provide their budgets and menus,” Deines-Henderson said. “They have to meet budgets, manage food waste, manage allergens and handle ordering, inventory tracking and maintenance of kitchen equipment.”
At an average elementary school, a lead might oversee two assistants. A high school operation could include up to nine.
The modern school lunch program began after World War II, when President Harry Truman warned of national security risks because of widespread childhood malnutrition. In 1946, Congress created the National School Lunch Program. The National School Breakfast Program followed in 1966 as a pilot program, which was made permanent in 1975.
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the programs. In D 49 alone, 109 nutrition staff members served about 1.5 million lunches and 350,000 breakfasts last year across 24 sites. Meals are prepared fresh in each school kitchen; two charter schools have their meals delivered from another school’s kitchen.
AnneMarie Richer, kitchen lead at Meridian Ranch Elementary School, starts her day at 6:45 a.m. in the school cafeteria kitchen preparing a hot breakfast entrée. She and her team will serve about 90 children for breakfast, then clean up and start cooking to serve close to 500 lunches in six back-to-back shifts, starting at 10:40 a.m.
“They’re only given two hours to get an entire school full of children through lunch, and they’re able to make that happen,” Deines-Henderson said. “That can be 350 to 500 meals in under two hours.”
For Megan Greene, kitchen lead at Evans Elementary School, it’s the children who make the work rewarding. She puts up “ice breaker” decorations in the cafeteria that get kids talking; she also gives out stickers and greets each child personally.
The nutrition staff interacts with students every day. Greene said they check their trays to ensure their selections meet government protocol. “Then we can see if they seem happy or bummed, and we can ask if they’re having an OK day,” Greene said. “Sometimes, they’ll confide in us and we take an extra couple of seconds and tell them it will be OK.”
Because most students pass through the cafeteria daily, staff receive youth mental health training. While they don’t intervene directly, they are taught to alert the appropriate administrator or counselor.
Food allergies are another critical responsibility. Each staff member trains in cross-contamination prevention and allergy safety. “Everybody has to be trained,” Deines-Henderson said. “We also have to work with our parents for meal modifications to be in compliance with the federal law.”
“If we have an allergy student, we get to know them one-on-one, and we give them options of what we can cook for them and ask what they would like,” Greene said.
Deines-Henderson said that every staff member must receive continuing education in the child nutrition arena, which is required by federal law.
“There’s so much that people don’t see. We’re certified with the El Paso County Department of Health, certified with the School Nutrition Association, and we have to maintain continuing education credit hours every year.”
AnneMarie Richer
“There’s so much that people don’t see,” Richer said. “We’re certified with the El Paso County Department of Health, certified with the School Nutrition Association, and we have to maintain continuing education credit hours every year.”
A kitchen lead’s day continues after cooking, serving and clean-up duties. There are inventories to update, budgets to balance and paperwork to complete.
“It’s a lot of tracking and counting,” Richer said. “People think we just serve food, but there’s so much more behind it.”
For Greene, one highlight has been overseeing the school’s hydroponic “lettuce wall,” where students grow greens they eventually harvest that are served in the cafeteria. Greene said watching children line up to eat salad they helped cultivate has been a source of pride for the kitchen staff and the students.
Richer launched Meridian Ranch’s breakfast program in 2017 with support from a new principal. Now, 90 to 120 students start their day with a meal. “Breakfast is so important for learning,” she said. “It makes a huge difference for kids to have something to eat before they start class.”
Both Greene and Richer said the interaction with students — whether a kindergartner thrilled about pizza day or a teenager remembering those who served them years later — is what is most rewarding. “I’ve had kids come up to me years later and say, ‘Hey, you were my lunch lady.’ And I remember them,”Richer said.
While turnover is common in military heavy Colorado Springs, many staff stay for years. The flexible hours are ideal for parents, Deines-Henderson said. Workers can see their children off to school, serve meals during the day and be home when the school bus arrives.
The qualities that make someone successful in the role are less about culinary skills than character. “The biggest thing is customer service,” Deines-Henderson said. “You can teach someone how to prepare food. What you can’t teach is having a big heart.”
For Richer, what began as a three-hour “mom job” while her children were young has turned into a 20-year career. “I never thought in a million years I’d still be here,” Richer said. “But I love it. Food makes people happy. I see the outcome of everything I do every single day. Kids will say, ‘This is my favorite time of day,’ and that gives me job satisfaction.”
