During the past week, officials from Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services (FCNS) visited five schools to present the department’s top honor to deserving cafeteria staff.
The Heart of Child Nutrition Award is given to campus FCNS employees who go above and beyond the lunch line to positively impact their schools.
This year’s winners are Solar Preparatory School for Girls, Seagoville Elementary School, Thomas Jefferson High School, Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School; and Everette L. DeGolyer Elementary School.
At Thomas Jefferson, FCNS executive director Michael Rosenberger presented a certificate and trophy to the cafeteria staff, and the department provided lunches for them. Each worker also received a medal. Principal Sandy Massey gave the cafeteria employees an apron signed by school staff.
Rosenberger noted that each school day, about 900 breakfasts and 1,200 lunches are served, but that cafeteria staff do much more than prepare and distribute food. Of all the school cafeteria teams nominated for the award, the TJ staff received the most, he said.
“You know the saying ‘the kitchen is the heart of the home.’ Well, in this case, the kitchen is the heart of our schools. And it really shows by the outpouring of love and adoration that the staff, students and parents have for these cafeteria Teams,” said Michael Rosenberger, FCNS executive director.
Karen Craft, the cafeteria supervisor at Thomas Jefferson, has been serving in Dallas ISD school cafeterias for 22 years. For her, a career serving food is about much more than a paycheck, it’s about the students.
“I feel like each and every student at my school are my own children,” Craft said. “I share their daily experiences with them. I love seeing them grow the four years they are at my campus. I love being with them every day.”
