The clatter of plastic on metal joins the cacophony of sounds in the cafeteria. The cafeteria staff hurries through the kitchen and lines, serving seemingly endless lines of students eagerly awaiting their daily lunches.
Every day, the students, administrators and teachers see the faces of the cafeteria staff.
The workers arrive at 8:40 a.m., or earlier, according to cafeteria workers Melissa Gates and Diana McKinney. Certain workers arrive before school even starts in order to serve breakfast to hungry students.
They spend around four hours at the school daily, sometimes staying for six to seven hours and sometimes coming in early to prepare food that takes more time. Most workers leave by 1:00 p.m.; however select workers will stay past school hours to serve food after school.
These staffers serve cafeteria food, but their duties are not limited to just this.
“We set up our lines, make sure there’s water in the wells so that the food stays hot,” Gates Explains, “We prep the food, we cup the fruit into the bowls. We prep the day before for the next day.” The wells are the shallow pans in the lines where food pans are placed.
For Gates and McKinney, the hardest part is when they run out of certain foods, especially foods that are particularly desirable to students.
“It feels like we let them down,” McKinney says.
Outside of work, Gates’ and McKinney’s lives are dedicated mostly to their families.
Gates, a mother to nine children, grandmother to twenty-two children, and great-grandmother to five children considers herself very “family-oriented.”
“My family is crazy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Gates’ daughter, senior Emily Mann, says.
Gates’ life has largely revolved around caring for children, whether through caring for her own or the students of Perry Meridian High School. When serving students during lunch, she tries to speak to each individual student, making a connection between the workers and student body.
“I try to speak to each child they walk through,” she says. “I love dealing with children. I love my kids.”
There are reflections of Gates’ home life in her work, according to Mann, who says that she is “caring, loving always.”
Mann sees the cafeteria staff as a group of very kind, hardworking people who put forth extensive effort to make a connection with students and staff.
“They all care for me, and ask if I’m doing all right,” Mann says.
The tireless work of the lunch workers in and out of school is validated by the respect and appreciation of the students and staff.
“For the most part, every child and administrator is very respectful,” Gates says.
Her daughter agrees.
“They [the students] are always super nice and thank them,” Mann says. “They are appreciative of them.”