By ACACIA RODRIGUEZ

At Herbert H. Lehman High School, School Lunch Aides from Local 372 NYC Board of Education Employees produce and distribute nutritious meals for a campus of discerning eaters. With menus including butternut squash and barbecued chicken, school lunch is an elaborate production helmed by a team of dedicated and quick-thinking workers. The Lunch Aides carry out important work in the kitchen and on the lunch line serving up healthy food to young academics and staff alike.

It’s 7 a.m. and Senior Lunch Aide Shanna Brown, one of two cooks in the Lehman kitchen, begins her day with a pen and paper to dive into some math. Depending on which menu the Department of Education’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services has planned for the day, Brown must calculate how best to deliver meals to staff and students during six different lunch periods. She carefully divides up the protein, carbs, and veggies, noting which periods the students and staff eat more, whether substitutions must be made, what special items can be included, and what must be prepared the day before to deliver lunch on time. Then, she delegates duties to the rest of the staff.

“A day on the job for me is always busy, but it’s not overwhelming,” Brown said. “I love the work I do, so it comes to me with ease. I’m supported by a wonderful staff that helps me accomplish all the daily tasks. The kitchen is like a machine — one part doesn’t work without the other. We all have to do our part to keep meals running smoothly.”

Along with timing and temperature, each cafeteria staff member is essential to lunchtime. The managers coordinate the timely food and seasoning deliveries, and the ‘heavy duty’ staff hauls supplies in and out. Brown and Assistant Cook Maria De Leon work while glued at the hip, preparing meals with kitchen staff, and School Lunch Helpers serve the students, keeping the line moving and spirits high. Not all meals are prepared from scratch, like with pizza, but more complicated meals like seasoned mixed vegetables, macaroni and cheese, and baked chicken legs and thighs (a student favorite), call for more prep time and attention.

“We are putting love in this food,” Brown said. “Most of the time, children eat with their eyes. If the food doesn’t look appealing, they probably won’t try it. Chicken is chicken, but if you make it different today as opposed to how you made it last time, the eaters will notice and they will call you out, saying, ‘This doesn’t taste like it did last week!’”

School staff members, including principals, school nurses, and head custodians, are permitted to join the lunch line for meals before or after the students eat. With such a wide variety of opinionated eaters and evolving menu choices, Brown stays calm; she isn’t new to this, she’s true to it.

As the oldest of six children, Brown would feed her siblings after school while her mother worked two jobs. Before coming to Lehman, Brown worked at the Boys and Girls Club of America in the food division for eight years, learning the ins and outs of food service. When she came to Lehman as a School Lunch Helper, her attention to detail got her promoted directly to Senior Lunch Aide.

“Management was impressed with my work ethic and dedication to my role, not only as someone handing out meals to the kids, but putting a smile on their faces, doing it with joy,” Brown said. “They said I was a great fit for the role.”

As a former School Lunch Aide/Cook, Local 372 Vice President Donald Nesbit stressed the importance of the members’ labor and care. For many students who live in food-insecure areas, this may be the only healthy cooked meal they eat for the day. Many Local 372 members also live in the communities served by the schools in which they work. That means they’re frequently serving the youth from their own families and neighborhoods.

“There are so many studies related to student academic success and nutrition,” Nesbit said. “As a former cook, I know how much our members rely on student feedback to ensure they’re making meals students enjoy eating. A student and their mind can’t grow without proper nutrition.”