The midterm elections, especially in the New Mexico race for governor, saw a battle waged over the best way to recruit and retain teachers.
But a key group, perhaps the most vital aspect of education, was forgotten: Those few that understand the way to a child’s heart and mind is through their stomachs, the lunch lady.
Here in Española at least, these pivotal figures of the academic day toil to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner to Española School District students.
The District, through an application submitted by District Cafeteria Services and Warehouse Manager Patricia Romero to the Children Youth and Families Department, began serving dinners on Jan. 18 to District students.
In the month of September alone, Romero said, the District served 9,262 free dinners between eight schools: Española, Abiquiú, Alcalde, Velarde, Hernandez, Fairview and Sombrillo Elementary Schools and Española Middle School.
While the sheer number of dinners may seem remarkable, the truly remarkable feat is that the dinner program is prepared, in the immense kitchen of the Middle School, by only six of the District’s lunch ladies.
Pauline Marquez, Norma Granados and Head Cook Patricia Granados are from the Middle School and Yolanda Martinez, Lisa Pacheco and Anna Andrade are from Fairview Elementary School.
“These ladies come in at six or seven in the morning,” Romero said. “And they don’t go home until five or five thirty at night, Monday through Friday. This goes from the first week of August to the end of the school year.”
The dinner program is part of the 21st Century Program, an after school initiative that provides students tutoring services and the opportunity to explore various aspects of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) curriculum.
Española Middle School program head Judy Salipan has roughly 210 of the 523 participating students enrolled in the program, many of which, she said, are there every afternoon.
“The program lasts from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.,” she said. “We provide dinner and tutoring services, but we offer a lot of other possibilities like cooking, art, carpentry and robotics.”
After preparing breakfast and lunch at their respective schools, at 2 p.m. the six ladies venture over to the Middle School, the only school in the District with a catering license, to prepare for the dinner program. Romero said kitchen staff prepare each meal and special meals are prepared for students with dietary or medical needs.
After cooking the meals, the ladies package and deliver over 523 meals between all eight schools, with the help of two additional drivers, she said.
While the program feeds the roughly 523 students enrolled in the 21st century program, there are also plenty for hungry students who remain on campus late, she said.
“The dinner is free to all students that are in the 21st Century Program, however, extra is always sent for kids that may be on campus late that need a meal,” she said. “If there is extra, we ask that the staff give them away as seconds. We have kids that if you could allow them to get a third, would get a third.”
This is their schedule, barring half days and holidays, for the entire school year. However, they don’t disappear on the last day of school for a summer of relaxation, Romero said. At the end of the school year, the ladies take a three day break and then turn around and aid in preparing meals for the District’s summer food program.
The summer program, which serves food at 17 sites, is meant to provide meals for children ranging from ages one to 18 around the city, and does not discriminate on the basis of school or whether or not students needing food are enrolled in the District. It is simply meant to serve the needs of the community, Romero said.
Upon the completion of the summer program in early August, the ladies take a three day sabbatical and then return to their work offering three square meals to District students throughout the school year.
The program, coupled with the dinner services, is meant to not only feed district student’s bodies, but their minds. So next time you are at the school for career day, grandparents day or just to pick up your child, stop in and say thanks to the six ladies working in the shadows to feed the hearts and minds of your children.