Greenway’s Cafeteria Crew Rules the School

Lunch ladies are great people with their hard work and the will to always get things done, serving students everyday with a big smile on their face. With this being said, many people don’t pay attention to the lunch ladies. They just go along with their day getting their food when it’s lunch time and ignoring them, but the lunch ladies are always smiling and saying ”hi” or saying “have a great day.” I think the main reason why is because we don’t know the lunch ladies; to us students, they are just lunch ladies. So, I say let’s get to know the people who work hard everyday to make and serve our food. In this article I asked a question to a wonderful lady named Yurina Cortes, who has been working as a lunch manager for 16 years. I had asked her what is it like working in your position/ job of a lunch manager.

“During all my years of career in this industry, I faced different challenges,”  Ms. Cortes said. She manages the cafeteria operations for accuracy, efficiency, and quality control. She also has to be skilled in managing and motivating the cafeteria staff effectively.

“The cafeteria manager handles the operations of the entire cafeteria to ensure that processes and procedures are implemented and monitored for accuracy and efficiency resulting in quality, nutritious food for students,” Ms. Cortes said. The responsibilities of lunch ladies are endless because they have to think of things like menu planning for the next day, inventory management, food preparation, cooking, serving meals, cleaning, and sanitizing.

Ms. Cortes has faced many adventures and difficulties with her job, like lack of staff, construction of a new cafeteria, and the pandemic. The pandemic has affected the lunch staff greatly by drastically affecting the food supplies and staff members; because of this, Ms. Cortes and her fellow workers have had to work even harder to make sure each and every kid has a meal to eat. Behind every meal in the cafeteria lies dedication and hard work. Our lunch ladies arrive before we even push stop on our alarm clocks. They are already chopping vegetables, prepping ingredients, and planning menus to make sure we have a meal in the morning and the afternoon. They face scorching kitchens, tight budgets, and the challenge of pleasing hundreds of hungry students all with a smile.

You might not realize it, but our lunch ladies play a crucial role in our school day. They make sure we get the balanced foods needed to focus in class and excel in sports while always giving us a warm smile that could turn a bad day around.

These ladies absolutely love their job, though.

“I love my job, and I like to know and believe that the day-to-day hard work and effort of myself and my team contributes to the present and future of the Greenway kids.” Ms. Cortes said.

So, now that we know a little more about the lunch ladies and all the hard work it takes to serve food on our plates everyday, let’s appreciate them a little more by giving them a simple “thank you” or even a “hi, how was your day?” Let’s no longer ignore them, and let us all thank Ms. Cortes and the entire Greenway lunch staff for the hard work they put into satisfying hundreds of kids with their food every single day.