What's On Your Tray?

One of my favorite parts of being a superintendent, particularly in St. Johnsbury, is having lunch with students. Being in the cafeteria where there is such a buzz of positive energy, children are truly themselves, and I get a chance to talk to students more than during learning walks or classroom visits. The students for their part, seem more comfortable, easily engaged, and happy to find me at their table.

What makes it even better in St. J is the fabulous, fresh salad bar that we have available to all of us. For the past two years, I've heaped as many vegetables as I can onto my traditional cafeteria tray (can't fit it all onto the squares and circles provided). In addition, I add cheese and hard-boiled eggs to round out the meal. I find a spot for a child-sized carton of milk or two and I head to find some students to sit with.

This past Friday as I went through the line, I didn't see any cheese nor hard-boiled eggs. I didn't think anything of it, as my tray was already pretty full. But as I approached Tammy, one of our wonderful cafeteria workers, she looked down at my tray, looked at me, and said, "Wait, we've got more eggs and cheese!"

I was truly touched - we have more than six hundred students in the St. Johnsbury School and more than two hundred adults working in our building. Tammy had noted what I usually like on my salad and did something about it. I feel incredibly grateful to serve in a school district where the people in the cafeteria take note of what we put on our trays.

Now the skeptic will say, she only did that because I am the superintendent. If I was not at the top of the food chain, I would not be able to write this blog post. That may very well be true, but if you believe that, then I want you to consider something else.

In our district, every individual is assigned a number that is entered into the computers to track how much we owe for our meals. I have observed both Tammy and Carolee Stuart (our Director of Food Service) routinely remember the four-digit code for any number of students who have forgotten it or who have never committed it to memory.

Some of our first graders have just completed their first full month of having lunch in the cafeteria. Their eyes were wide open, answering questions about what they wanted or didn't want on their tray, meandering through a line that sometimes moves quickly but also sometimes stands still. When they finally get to the end of the line, they need to tell either Tammy or Carolee their number before they can get to their table, sit down and start to eat. Truth be told, I've forgotten my number a few times as well! Both women knew it before I could remember it myself.

Lunch is one of the few times where we don't ask our students to do anything but be themselves, to be children, to eat and spend time with their friends and classmates. We don't ask them to recall facts and figures, recite poetry and prose, or list the planets in the solar system. Mealtime should be relaxed and comfortable, and if say you've forgotten your four-digit code or what you typically put on your tray to eat, it brings me great pride to know there are people looking out for us.

The cafeteria, like our other learning spaces in St. Johnsbury, is a place where relationships matter.

Photo courtesy of www.yourmoderndad.com