Not many people fall into a job that they love, working with nice people, making a decent wage (without a college degree,) medical benefits, paid holidays, summers free...I felt very lucky and blessed as I went to work each day...I ended up with a staff of three, hard working, aim to please, ready to try any new recipe, assistant cook/baker, Willa...next in line Joyce, vegetable/fruit prep and mover/rotator of freight, so nothing became outdated and everything was neatly arranged and stored...Joyce also came with a wealth of knowledge (from working in restaurants) about easier and faster ways to prep food and keep ahead of the mountains of pots and pans that always needed to be washed...She and Willa were also death on cleaning and kept the kitchen and equipment sanitized and sparkling...Salad bar was manned by Johnnie, prepped and presented in her meticulous manner, was better than any restaurant salad bar and the envy of other schools in the county...We were a top notch team and they made my job in the kitchen easy.
The year before Margaret retired, our long time superintendent Mr. Williams had also retired, leaving me to work for a new superintendent...Although the new "Super" didn't eat lunch with us very often he was still supportive of our program and wanted good homecooked food available for all kids...He looked for ways to bring more money into the program through signing up low income families for free and reduced meals, that were subsidized by the government...After his initial 3year contract expired he moved on to another school...A younger, energetic man took his place and worked on the relationship between certified/classified staff making a better working environment for all involved...He was well liked and frequented the lunch room ofter...In about his 3rd year, we were stunned to learn that he had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and had only a short time to live...Following his death an interim superintendent was hired to fill our his contract and pave the way for a permanent person...Also at this time, funding for schools out of Salem was changing drastically...In the years ahead money became tighter and tighter, staff was reduced, programs cut and my once perfect job became a nightmare of meetings, backstabbing, cutthroat, and new administrative staff that didn't have a clue about running a school system...Hugs To All...OWAV:)
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