As students at Northmont High School, we tend to overlook the people in the kitchen, not realizing the hard work they put into making our days successful and delicious! That’s why for this month’s “What It’s Like,” I interviewed a lunch lady.
Ms. Stacy Pickens has worked in food service at Northmont for almost 13 years. She first applied for the position because it allowed her to work a little while her kids were at school and she has since become a Cook, working almost 7 hours each day for us! She says that if she wasn’t a lunch lady she would probably be a teacher because that was her dream as a little girl.
I’ve always wondered how the food at Northmont is prepared, is it microwaved? Made from scratch? Pre-made? So, I asked Ms. Pickens and she said that the food is pre-made and “I mostly use a steamer and then our other cook uses ovens” to heat it. She said that she eats the food here at the high school almost every day. So, don’t believe any rumors about ‘mystery meat’ because even the lunch ladies eat it!
She also said that the thing that surprised her most about working in food service was, “it’s harder than what most people realize. Um, just, maybe not as physical as just, it can be physical, we lift a lot of boxes and stuff. But, just mentally we have to have the right amounts. You know, we don’t want to run out of food for you guys.”
When asked what her favorite thing a student has said for her is, Ms. Pickens said, “Probably just thank you.” She also mentioned that if you want to make her day, just say “thanks for your hard work.”
She said that a typical day as a lunch lady looks like “getting here at 6:30, we do breakfast. When that’s over, after we clean up, um, then we start lunch prep, which usually takes from 8:15 till you guys, well, till we go on break which is about 10:45. And, most of it is done by then, and then, um, as we go along, like after you guys come to lunch, we might have to cook more along the way. So, and then we clean up and we go home!”
Her last piece of advice for any high schoolers reading this is, ”Always be polite, that will get you a lot further in life than not.” So, make sure to thank a lunch lady today!
