Every weekday morning at 5:15, Jennifer Buck, cafeteria manager, wakes up and comes to Leesville in order to prepare pounds of food for the student body.
With about 725 mouths to feed, there is a lot of food preparation needed. “We use about 6-7 cases of French fries each day, and each case is 30 pounds. That’s 210 pounds of potatoes we make a day,” said Buck.
“My days are really busy,” said Buck. “I make breakfast for everyone, then serve it and work in the lines. As soon as breakfast is done we all get to work on making lunch.”
Buck, along with the other cafeteria workers, works in all aspects of the lunchroom. “I prepare the food, I work the lines, I help clean up and I do lots and lots of paperwork,” she said.
While Buck participates in most of the work that all cafeteria workers do, her official position is above the rest. “My official title is cafeteria manager,” said Buck. “To be manager you have to go to manager training, but I just got trained by the old Leesville cafeteria manager before she retired. The rest of the ladies go to register training and learn food patterns and stuff like that.”
Working with the food is not all that Buck is expected to do each day.“There’s a ton of paperwork involved in the job. I have to pre-plan the lunch menus and fill out food orders at least once a week,” said Buck of the disadvantages that come with the job. “We rarely run out of food , but sometimes we run out of a certain item, and that’s not good.”
Despite the paperwork, Buck feels that she has found her perfect job here at Leesville. “It’s a good job for me because I love children. Most the kids at the school are really friendly. And I know that some kids just don’t get fed, and it’s my job to feed them. I know that this job is important.”
Katy has been on staff since her sophomore year, starting as a staff writer. With hard work and diligence, she earned a junior editor position and ultimately became Editor-in-Chief her senior year. She will pursue a degree in journalism in college.
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