On the Job: Mardela Lunch Lady
When you think back on high school days some of the best memories happened in the cafeteria, usually around the same time of day. This week on “On the Job” 47 ABC visited Mardela High to get behind the counters and serve lunch.
Eric Goslee is the food services director and he showed us the back room where all the food is prepped and made. He tells 47 ABC, “If this is not working, then kids are not being fed.”
The kitchen is lined with top of the line stoves, steamers, and ovens. They even have these large refrigerators and heaters where all the prepped food stays until it’s ready to be served. Some of the lunches that were being prepped were fish filet sandwiches, turkey wraps, and pizza.
Joann Griffin has been working for Mardela high for 4 years now and she says the menu changes every day and there’s never a dull moment in the kitchen. When asked what her favorite part of the job was she says, “I like to cook and I like the people that I work with. I like every day is different, come in and no two days are alike that’s for sure.”
Joann says a lot of their food is made from scratch including their award winning salad called the craisin power salad. Created by a manager at another area school, it consists of kale, spinach, craisins, shredded carrots and a tangy sweet dressing to finish it off. It was entered into competition along with other schools across the state and won first place!
Food service worker Mary Houseberg loves it. When asked what her favorite part of the job was she says, “My favorite thing to do, I would say, is probably prepping food. It’s probably my favorite job..I like to cook and I like to make sure the kids get a nice product, you know, try and do a good job with it.”
After all the food is done being prepped, it’s time to get ready for the first round of kids! There are four lunch periods, two middle school lunches and two high school lunches. The first one starts at 10:37 and the kids were flying in! To say the crowd was excited is an understatement.
Next week 47 ABC heads to Specific Gravity to toss some pizza pies and serve some customers. If you would like to be featured on “On the Job” you can email Michelle at michelle_mackonochie@wmdt.com.
