CULLMAN, Ala. – Lunchroom staff members at Harmony School were recently recognized as the school’s Employees of the Month. The four hard–working women go above and beyond, according to Harmony Principal Kevin Sullins. Each day, despite the added difficulties of the pandemic, their pride in their work is quite noticeable.
Tammy Thompson, Denise Hardin, Rhonda Bates and Pat Rodgers make up the Harmony School lunchroom staff, and they feed 250 kids each day.
“The food just looks so good. It looks like a high dollar restaurant style when they lay it out there,” said Sullins. “When it looks good, the kids will eat it. They take great pride in the presentation of that and everything they do.”
During the pandemic, the ladies have had more meals to prepare than in normal years.
Sullins explained, “They are having to fix to-go lunches and breakfast in the rooms. Everything has just totally changed for them. There have been shortages of food, and they never know what they are really going to get on the truck each week. They get ‘outed’ a lot. They’ll order one thing and just get whatever they get. They have to make do and they make it look so good and so appetizing and take great pride in it. That’s something that seems to be lost in the world today.”
Besides looking great, Sullins emphasized the food tastes great, too.
In addition to preparing breakfast and lunch for Harmony students, the staff also feeds those in the preschool, as the short-term alternative students at Jones Chapel.
“They are in there early getting breakfast made and getting lunches, but then they have the Wednesday meals where they send home meals with kids for a week (for) the kids that don’t have something, possibly, to eat,” said Sullins. “Also, (they prepare) after–school meals. Each kid goes home every day with a snack- a meal to take and eat when they get home from school. The ladies have that ready also.”
If that doesn’t sound exhausting enough, the women also maintain an immaculately clean kitchen, and doing the extra work required because of COVID-19 is described as “impressive” by Sullins, who stressed that the lunchroom is the backbone of the school.
“If a kid is hungry, they don’t care anything about learning,” he said. “They love and care for our students, and it shows.”
Finally, Sullins said, “Thanks for all they do for us, because they are there for the kids and we are all in this together and it takes everyone at school to go through this. Hopefully we are on the backside of this pandemic. They have done it with a great attitude and a smile and that means a lot in today’s climate for our staff and students.”
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