It’s 5:15 in the morning. It’s dark outside as a group of amazing women arrive with an essential mission: to feed the students and staff of Lancaster High School. These early birds will bustle about the kitchen, all with varying amounts of responsibilities to meet their goal each school day. They feed about two to three hundred students or more each day for breakfast and about 900 for lunch. Rarely recognized for their roles and hard work behind the food lines, the cafeteria staff at LHS dedicate time and energy to feed the constant stream of students and staff who buy their meals at school.

As the clock ticks, the kitchen staff has multiple deadlines to meet throughout the day.

Kitchen manager Tracy Anderson explained that the kitchen staff works two different shifts.

“The five-hour shift girls come in and prepare pizza, the hot and cold vegetables, the charcuterie board along with salads, and the sandwiches.  The four-hour girls are responsible for filling coolers all day with fruit and running the register. Behind the scenes, it takes a lot of hard work to prepare everything in time.  My kitchen staff works hard and is good at their jobs,” she said.

“We start serving breakfast at 7:05. So then, after breakfast, we get stuff ready for breakfast for the next day. The assistant manager starts cooking at 8:15, and depending on what the meal is, we will cook all day long,” said Anderson.

Kathy Moore, who is stationed at one of the most popular food lines, said that time constraints make their work challenging.

“The line I am on is constant, and the pizza line is constant. The challenges of the job are trying to get it all done. We are really busy. We only have about a two-hour window, and that is to get all the prep done for the day, in that two-hour window,” she said.

Jamie Henderson also addressed the stress that time creates for the kitchen staff.

“Everything is fast-paced . . . we have got to always be on our toes,” she said.

Another challenge is to make sure there is enough food for everyone for both breakfast and the four lunch periods.

“All the meals we have to make are very challenging, and yeah, while some of the food comes pre-cooked, we have to assemble it and have it ready by a certain time. We prepare 200 sandwiches before the first line starts.  We have to make sure every child has one, and we have some kids who get two or three lunches a day. So we not only have to make sure we have enough but also extras,” said Anderson.

Lucille Porter, who has been with the kitchen staff at LHS for five years, also serves the students and staff at Stanbery.

“I start out at LHS early in the morning and gather my breakfast items and load up a van to transport the food to Stanbery. Once there, I unload and set up a presentable breakfast smorgasbord. After serving over 50 students in the morning, I load up leftover breakfast and head back to LHS to unload. Once unloaded, I gather the items I need for lunch for the day. Load up the van again and drive back to Stanbery by 9:30 to be ready to serve lunch at 10 am. After finishing lunch, I load up leftovers from lunch and  take it back to LHS. I make copies of my paperwork and restock my breakfast items for the next morning,” she said.

Close quarters present another challenge that the staff deals with daily.

“It’s a very small kitchen for the amount of food that we are preparing. We have outgrown this building, of course, and we have no air conditioning. It gets very hot with the ovens as we meet the timeline of having to get food ready and clean for the next time and do it all over again,” said Lannette Tipple.

Everyone knows that when there are too many cooks in the kitchen, tempers can boil over.  But the LHS kitchen staff proves that they have the right recipe to keep the kitchen running as smoothly as a Michelin restaurant.

“We are a family where all the girls work well together. If somebody is hurting, we are all hurting. If a family member passes away, we are all hurting, so it’s like one big happy family,” said Anderson.

It’s challenging to get along because everyone has a different personality. What makes it a real challenge is when it gets warm outside, and then the kitchen feels miserable, and getting on each other’s nerves takes a lot less. But of course, we do our best to serve the students with a smile every day. 

“We are just like anybody else. We can be goofy and have our good days and our bad days. We can be irritable, especially having a bunch of women in one place; it can get to be a lot. Then it can be the complete opposite, where everyone is happy and in a good mood,” said Henderson.

“We are pretty open and get along with each other. They are my family. The highlight of my week is getting to go to work,” said Moore. 

The staff in this kitchen have so much compassion and love, especially for their students. 

“I love learning their names and getting to know them. They like when I can remember their bringing an appetite so I can serve them a nutritious meal. I like to see them and hear about their day, even if they are not having a good one. I feed them and listen to them, which is what my mother would do for me. Most of them know me as Miss Luci,” said Porter.

“The highlight for me is knowing the students are going to get their lunch, have nutrition, and have a fun, positive experience,” said Tipple.

 “This group of girls genuinely cares about these kids. We want the teachers, principals, other staff, and kids to know that when you come through the lunch line and say, Good morning or How are you? That it is the best part of the day,” said Anderson.

In an Eye of the Gale questionnaire, some students offered their thanks to the cafeteria staff.  

“Thank you for preparing breakfast and lunch every day for over a thousand students,”  said freshman Dalton Mason.

“They don’t get nearly as much appreciation as they deserve,” said senior Maddox Lamascola.

“I appreciate you guys so much for all your hard work,” said senior Brooke Longfellow.

“The lunch ladies are so cool – thank you for lunch and breakfast,” said junior Taven Brown.

“Thank you for being so nice and uplifting. I hope they can continue to help other students,” said senior Kamryn Clagg.

“I want to give them a million hugs and a million dollars,”  said sophomore Calea Hayes.

“They are amazing and sweet to everyone who walks in, and no matter what kind of day a student is having, they always help,” said junior Zoey Fisher.

LHS senior Caleb Persinger suggested that a reward for the cafeteria staff is needed. 

“A day off –  everyone packs their lunch for the day,” he said.