Could you believe that out of the one thousand students who attend Northside, only four women curate and prepare meal plans? These dedicated workers are crucial in our daily school lives, ensuring we’re fed nutritious and delicious meals. Let’s look behind the scenes at the bustling school kitchen and see what a typical day looks like for these hard workers.

The day for our kitchen staff begins long before the first student arrives on campus; they have to arrive at the kitchen as early as six in the morning. Before even preparing the food, there’s a whole duty- they begin by tying their hair up and putting on their hairnets before cleaning.

Before wiping down their different cleaning stations, they wash their hands and then fill buckets with water, half dedicated to sanitizing and the other half to detergent. Afterward, they wipe down their stations with cleaning cloths soaked in sanitized or detergent buckets.

Next, they consult the staff document. The staff document reports which meals are given to the students depending on the day, how many ingredients they need, the leftovers, how much waste there is, and any additional notes.

They determine which meals should be recurring based on their popularity.

I decided to start going to the kitchen at about six a.m. to observe and help out whenever possible to understand better what it’s like to be in the staff’s shoes.

The Cafeteria Staff

Before I tell you about the meals, let me tell you about the fantastic staff.

Firstly, Ms. Nydia Moyet, the kitchen manager, granted me the opportunity to write this article and get more hands-on experience in the kitchen. Ms. Moyet was born in Puerto Rico, and when she was younger, she had profound love and aspirations for becoming a dancer. Eventually, she got her first job working in a nursing home, where she got to experience what it’s like to work in a kitchen. Ms. Moyet says she finds the most happiness in her job through the students. Throughout her almost three decades of experience working in schools, she found that she could significantly impact students’ lives by cooking and meeting lovely students whom she feels she got to watch grow up. Although she’s the manager and doesn’t have to cook, she chooses to do it anyway out of her love for it, reflected during her free time when she tries out new recipes and shares them with her co-workers.

Moving on, the cook herself is Ms. Rayida Yousef. She has spent the past decade working in school kitchens, but she attended school and earned her teaching certification in her birthplace, Iraq. Before working in schools’ kitchens, she gained experience working in Sam’s Club’s kitchen. She finds the most joy in cooking, which helps her feel focused.

Next, Ms. Violette Audisho, who is in charge of prepping and new to working at Northside, is in charge of prepping. She was also born in Iraq and excelled academically throughout her schooling. Although Ms. Audisho wanted to pursue more schooling, her education process was delayed due to her immigration to the United States. Because she enjoys connecting with students, she finds her job’s serving element the most enjoyable.

Finally, the porter in the kitchen is Ms. Maria Lopez. She was born in Mexico, and upon moving here, the first school she could work at was Northside, which she loves. Ms. Lopez has always been interested in a job in the kitchen. She enjoys the serving aspect of her job because she finds the interactions with students heartwarming.

Northside’s kitchen embodies a sense of loyalty. Ms. Yusef met Ms. Moyet while employed at Mather High School, and she initially met Ms. Audisho through her job at Sam’s Club. Regarding Ms. Lopez, although she had previously worked at Northside, she was moved to a job in a middle school, which wasn’t the best fit. She finally had the opportunity to return and work here after the pandemic.

Which Meals and When

One of the busiest days for the kitchen has to be Fridays, which are designated pizza days. Pizza is one of our school’s most loved meal choices, attracting a seemingly never-ending line of students, which prompts nonstop work for staff. Even with all the prep beforehand, there’s still plenty of work to be done once the pizza leaves the oven.

Although outwardly, it may seem like the job is done after the food is cooked, that’s only a tiny portion of the staff’s lengthy list of responsibilities.

The crew works together to determine choices like which meals should be served that day, which dishes should be repeated based on their popularity, how to manage their prep time efficiently, prepping days in advance, how much produce needs to be purchased, making sure the food stays fresh, how many students they could feed at a time, and how many students get lunch, teamwork; these are among many other tasks that students might typically overlook.

Although I was given smaller tasks than the actual staff, I got to assist with meal prep in the kitchen for a few Fridays, and it was always way more vigorous and fast-paced compared to other days. For the preparation process of the pizzas, I was tasked with prepping the crusts on pans and stacking them onto a cart even taller than me. Afterward, I had to spread the cheese evenly and ensure that each pepperoni pizza contained at least thirty-two pepperonis and looked delicious. I had to complete all of this within an hour, which may not sound like much until I tell you that up to 500 pizzas must be cooked every Friday to keep up with Northside’s appetite!

Even though the tasks I was given seemed straightforward enough, considering that only four ladies were working to prepare lunch for over a thousand students, it emphasizes the staff’s undeniably strong work ethic and how much hard work needs to be done hastily and efficiently.

What I Knew and What I Now Know

Before writing this article, my knowledge of how much labor comes with doing their jobs was limited to what I could see visually from my perspective standing in the lunch lines, which they’re also in charge of regulating.

The sole reason behind them placing immense importance on students to not cut lines is so they’re able to get an accurate count of how much food they’re able to give out before requiring replenishment; they’re simply trying to maximize the number of meals they can put out at a time given their space and resources. Ms. Yousef even takes the time to come into the cafeteria to remind students to get lunch before the doors close.

Ever since I began helping, I’ve not only grasped a greater understanding of these fantastic women’s efforts but also felt more fulfilled myself, knowing that my dedication of only a single hour to helping them in the mornings would mean so much to them. I thoroughly enjoyed helping in the kitchen and getting to know, talk to, and listen to our lovely staff.