Inspired by teachers appreciation...what about school food service...VENT!!!

[mum4jenn]

I guess this is more of a vent but let me get it out anyway!!!

Every year the teachers get an appreciation week,the bosses have their day,the secretary gets a day etc. There IS a NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCHROOM WORKERS WEEK but in the county I work in does nothing for us.

I realize that there is a stigma attatched that says the lunchroom workers are uneducated and yes there are some that are like that but all of us are not like that. I graduated with very good grades and attended college but did not get to finish because of various circumstances. I have more common sense than most educators I have been around. I work in the lunchroom so that I can have a work schedule that is very close to the schedule that my dd has at school.

We work very hard each and every school day to provide good nutritious meals to the students and teachers. It is very HOT work and physically stressful. What we do is important but we are treated worse than the custodians. Even at Christmas time the whole school takes up money for the custodians but all we received was a package of Christmas cookies(of which 75% were broken) that were worth about $5.00. (The custodians received about $200.00 each). Most of the teachers do not even bother to learn our name and call us "lunchlady" which REALLY gets on my LAST nerve!!!

Then this past week was "our" appreciation week. There was not one single person that even went as far as to say thank you or anything else.It is sad. The kids had field day on three different days and we had to make sack lunches(which takes more time) AND cook the regular meals for the other kids and EVERYONE at the school was thanked for all the hard work except for us.

Please don't say that my paycheck should be all the thanks I need. I made less than $9,000 last year...the paycheck is NOT enough!!!LOL!!!!

Thanks for letting me vent....I feel better.

 

[disykat]

I'm glad you pointed this out. We do all staff during teacher appreciation week and lunchroom staff is included. However, since many of the celebrations take place around special food for the noon hour or before or after school they kind of miss out.

I guess I'm guilty of "the lunchlady" too. When I taught, our lunchroom staff was wonderful and I talked to them frequently - yet I can't remember their names anymore. Maybe nametags would help? I have to admit it's taken me years to learn the names at my kids school (where I also sub and am active PTA)- first I learned the teachers and then gradually learned the rest of the staff. They are updating the staff picture board out front and I'm so glad because it really helps me to remember staff names.

I think the lunchroom staff does have sort of a thankless job and you deserve kudos for all you do!

 

[ASFCurly]

kitchen staff is included in our teacher appreciation week (and do participate) plus there is a day just for them. Teachers donated 15 minutes of their lunch to wash dishes, etc.

 

[FroggyinArk]

:the wave: :the wave: sends the waves to you and all the really great "lunch ladies" who put up with our unappreciative and bratty kids( and the good ones too) and the really mean adults who dont bow to those who have to be art work earlier and ussually stay later, that spend all morning over a hot stove and all evening in hot water( washing up after the several hundred youngsters who half eat what they slave over,) cleaning up the messes that they make As the son of a "lunch lady" i really appreciate you guys more now that i can look back and see what my mom put up with out of us , yeah i include me in the rotten folks she fed everyday , i just got the priviledge of eating her cooking twice a day. And now a great big fat THANK YOU from a one eyed frog

 

[FroggyinArk]

i never could spell :thewave::thewave::thewave:

 

[shortbun]

Friday was bus driver appreciation day. When I pointed this
out to my students, there was silence then one boy got up
and walked to the front of the bus and sat down. I stifled the
reflex reaction to tell him to sit down because I knew he was
coming to tell me how much he appreciated me.
He wanted to get off at an unassinged stop-not allowed.
I told him never to walk on my bus while it was moving again.
I got a mimeographed sheet of paper from transportation
thanking me then telling me about some new rules.
Geesh! Just give me a dollar!

 

[disneygals]

Our elem. school does Staff Appreciation week and includes everyone. I volunteer quite a bit at the school so I see how hard you work. You couldn't pay me enough to handle lunch monitor, "lunch lady", or school bus driver!!

You guys are great!!!!

 

[clh2]

Originally posted by disneygals
You couldn't pay me enough to handle lunch monitor, "lunch lady", or school bus driver!!

You guys are great!!!!

Well said, I totally agree!

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Shelia, don't you know we are the pond scum of the school. I'm also a lunch lady and we get treated the same as you ladies, except we get NOTHING for Christmas! Our supervisors give something small (which is very nice of them considering there are over 70 of us lunch ladies in our district), but our school itself nevers recognizes us. We have a few teachers who come in and say hi when they order, but the majority of them snub us. I had to laugh at what you said about having more common sense then the "highly educated" teachers.....so true! So, from one lunch lady to another....Happy National School Lunch Workers Day!

 

[Mskanga]

You mean this was my week and I didn't know it? I am a sub ( which is really nice ) and I get to work if I want to. They call me almost daily but I know how much work is involved.
The good thing in our schools is that most of the teachers are nice and they don't look down at us, my kids school is like walking at home, everyone knows everyone and nobody is a stranger. Then again I'm in the PTO , so it feels like I'm always there.

 

[missypie]

There is an area of Dallas called the Park Cities...it may well be the weathiest school district in the state. For some reason that is unknown to me, all the lunchroom work is done by volunteers (the moms of the kids). I think at the time the tradition was started, absolutely none of them worked outside the home...they were all "society" moms....now, a lot of them think it's a huge pain to take their turn...I bet they'd bestow huge gifts on lunch workers if they no longer had to do it!

As for being "lunchlady"...please wear name tags and encourage the kids to call you Mrs. or Miss [Whatever]. If you start that early in the school year, I think you will get a lot more respect.

 

[clh2]

As our PTA was determining how to spend the rest of our funds for this year, I suggested they consider something for the Lunch Ladies and the Janitor - based on the idea from this thread.

Our PTA does a monthly bus-driver breakfast - and the drivers are getting a gift certificate for a local custard stand.

My idea was pretty well shot down...but the motion was made to spend the remaining $$$ after the executive board prioritizes the wish list. For some reason...I just don't think this idea is going to make the grade.

 

[two4ruff]

Lunch Ladies Unite!!

I agree with Dopey Sharon - we never even recieve cookies!!

We are the "Rodney Dangerfields" of our district - no respect!!

 

[mum4jenn]

I am pleased to hear that at least there are a few people out there that agree!!!

On our last work day(day after school ends) my manager and I were discussing where to eat that day and she thought about us having a small luncheon. I took it a step further and suggested all the school s get together at one location and everyone bring a dish of some sort. Since no one else appreciates us we could appreciate ourselves!! The director thought this was a great idea but of course we have a few "fuddy duddies" that are saying they don't want to do that. I guess you just can't win sometimes!!LOL!!!


I do plan on trying to have a discussion with the Principal next year about the school showing our ladies more respect. Maybe something will come out of it....we will see!!!

 

[powellrj]

I agree, lunch ladies need to be included!! I have a lunch lady story about my DS.. He was having a hard first few days at middle school last year, and the only friendly face he would see daily was the lady that took the money at lunch. Everyday I would ask how his day was and I would hear about the nice lady at lunch. When Christmas time rolled around, he had settled in and wanted to get his teachers each a christmas gift. When we were talking about what to get, he asked if the lunch lady could have a gift too. Well, you bet she got a gift. He said she was so surprised and happy, now we get her a gift every year and he still talks about the kind lunch lady!!

 

[Mskanga]

Come to think of it our PTO does have a dinner at the end of the year for all the volunteers, kitchen staff and custodians , they take them out to a buffet dinner and give them a token of appreciation. Every year I have gone to that because I volunteered for the school and PTO, this year I'm going because of that and add the fact that I am one of their lunch ladies too. At least someone appreciates what we do for all the kids, this is work that not everybody can do, not too many people are cut out for it, especially now in the warm weather when the kitchens are like 500 degrees hot.