Photos by Ethan Adams

A cafeteria worker`s serving location where students go to get their breakfast or lunch.

While students are sound asleep, activity at Athens Drive High School begins. Cafeteria staff  wake up early in the morning to ensure breakfast is available for all students.  Breakfast is a time for students to not only eat, but to socialize with friends before the school day starts. Some students don’t have an accessible way to receive breakfast other than school, that’s why cafeteria workers are so vital.

Many students do not eat breakfast before going to school because it’s so early. Some students have no appetite when they first wake up.  In the cafeteria, food must be prepared and ready before the first student arrives.

“I have to arrive by 7:20 every morning, [and] I get to go home at about 1:45,” said Jaime Buch, cafeteria worker.

The cafeteria team works together to organize and set up equipment and workstations for breakfast and then switch over to lunch. Their duties include following all health, food service, and government regulations.

Bush’s favorite part of being a cafeteria worker is being nice to the students. Bush has two teenagers herself, and she likes to give them great big smiles, as well as the students she serves. However, the job of a cafeteria worker is not always easy.

“When kids don’t pick up behind themself which I call policing [themselves] and being responsible for what they put on the table and just leaves [is very irresponsible to me.],”said Ronald Hatton, cafeteria manager.

Cafeteria workers also have to pick up garbage that students leave behind.

“It’s very irresponsible then we have to pick up behind them, but it’s part of the job, don’t like that part,” said Hatton.

Feeding students is a large part of a cafeteria worker’s job, but not all of it. Cafeteria workers are incharge of keeping the kitchen and serving areas clean and sanitized at all times.

“We have to wear a hat or hair net, and we have to wear the uniform pieces which are the black pants and the shirt,” said Bush. “We have to wash our hands all the time.”

A manager of a cafeteria has other responsibilities to fulfill. 

”[I have to make] sure that we have enough food for the children and [to make] sure workers have their supplies,” said Hatton.

For cafeteria workers, interacting with the students daily, while doing their job, requires strong interpersonal skills.

“[the cafeteria workers] actually seem pretty nice.  Whenever I put in my code, they make casual conversation,”said Krystal Woodruff, freshmen.

Cafeteria workers communicate with many students daily while serving food in healthy and consistent portions. 

”I’m thinking maybe 800 or so,” said Bush.

There is more to cooking for students in a cafeteria than one would think, there’s all kinds of equipment they have to learn to use, and it’s not like a home kitchen. 

“Everything in Wake County is electric, mostly even the ovens are electric,” said Hatton.

They store apples and other fruits and vegetables in a reach-in cooler, along with juice. Cafeteria workers need a lot of tools and a good kitchen to do their job correctly. They also have a fridge and freezer the size of a room and a pretty big french fry convection oven.

There is a lot more to being a cafeteria worker than meets the eye.

Cafeteria workers have to feed students daily, and that’s a very important job at Athens.

Robert Binson, a student at Athens Drive High School said, “They do their job and do it well.”