Thanksgiving is right around the corner and at GEHS everyone is very thankful for the hardworking and caring lunch ladies. The lunch ladies work hard every day to keep everyone fed and happy.
They arrive early in the morning and sometimes even stay later to prepare for the current and next school day.
“On a typical day, we just get breakfast ready, I have orders to put in, I got to make sure all of the lunches are ready, making sure the girls are cooking what needs to be cooked, making sure the kids eat, and then clean up,” Brenda Cloud said.
There are only so many lunch ladies compared to the amount of students which can make it challenging, but Anthony Taylor, an associate principal at GEHS, helps with some of the stress.
“Right now we have fourteen [lunch ladies], typically we have sixteen,” Cloud said. “ [We serve around] 1800 [students]. [Taylor is helpful] thankfully, he’s amazing.”
There are around 1900 students, and while some of them bring their own lunch a majority of them eat the school lunch that is provided. Especially on the days when they are serving fiesta bar and chicken nuggets.
“Fiesta bar and chicken nuggets [are the most popular foods],” Cloud said.
Some students are very thankful for the lunch ladies and the food they make.
“I think mashed potato bowl [is my favorite] because it’s scrumptious.” Makena Andreasen, a senior said. “[I am thankful for the lunch ladies because] they are all awesome and they take many hours out of their days to make food for us. [I want to shout out] Brenda Cloud because she’s the bomb diggity.”
Lunch ladies don’t always get the credit they deserve. They are here for the students to put together great, flavorful, and healthy meals.
“My favorite school lunch is probably the pasta bowl because I really like the sauce they put with it, like the white sauce, it’s the best thing that they have,” Keira Mills, a sophomore said. “They all work so hard just to make us lunch and that’s such a big job to do and not enough people talk about that.”
Brenda Helmick is a very popular lady at the school, she runs the concessions which is known as “Brenda’s She Shed”.
“I like the bibimbap bowl, it tastes good,” Raha Faruqi, a freshman said. “They take the time out of their day to help us and serve us food.” “I want to give a shoutout to all of them, but I like Brenda Helmick because she gives me cookies for free.”
There are multiple different options students can choose from. One of the most popular lines is the created food, which gives students options on what they get. They have a fiesta bowl, pasta bowl, hawaiian bar, and more.
“On the created side the fiesta bar [is the most popular],” Cloud said.
The lunch ladies work hard every day to keep everyone fed and make people’s day.
“[My favorite part of my job is that] I get to see the kids and have fun with them,” Cloud said.
The lunch ladies see the students five days a week and want the best for everyone. Brenda Cloud wants the students to know that they can talk to them whenever and they are always willing to talk.
“We’re here for them no matter what, if they have a problem they can just come to talk to us, no matter what it is. Whether it’s school-related, lunch-related, family related we’re here. We are a safe space,” Cloud said.
