Many schools
give little or no importance to their cafeterias, especially to the part that
serves teachers and staff members.
Students –
sure! They receive breakfast in class, free; precious learning time lost, and
expensive food wasted. On average, half of the food distributed in the morning ends
up in hands of questionable storage keepers, or worse – in the trash can…
Students get
free lunch too, on which consumption I know less, but judging from the look of
the luncheon area after the break, a lot of food is thrown away too…
When it
comes to feeding staff members, however, schools are less concerned, a lot
less! There are very few schools that keep a vibrant, fully stocked, cafeteria,
catered for the adults who serve the juveniles. Teachers, whose lunch break
time is limited to 30 minutes, carefully divided between closing one class and prepping
for the next, visiting the bathroom, and eating, often reach the promised
cafeteria just to watch the food packed away, longed-for coffee poured (literally)
down the drain, and closed cashiers. I can’t count the times when I badly
needed my cup of coffee to sustain me, and it was gone, consumed or, worse, drained
to the sink…
Those
blessed cafeterias that prepare salads and sandwiches, keep supplies available
and always have a fresh pot of coffee are friends of the teaching profession.
They understand the need of a working adult not only to be fed, but also to rest
for few minutes. They are ready to answer to the needs, even if it means
running between the students’ window, the kitchen, and the teachers’ lounge.
I don’t know
what separates a good cafeteria and a mean cafeteria. They must have budget and
resources limitation, but I can tell for sure – every time I encountered a nice
cafeteria, there was a nice, generous, person running it. A mean manager
translates to bad cafeteria, even if some of its employees are nice and helpful.
I always
head to the cafeteria during my breaks, and have seen many lunchrooms. The good
ones provide a choice of selections, with a smile and helpful attitude. Over the years I have seen good cafeterias
turning bad, bad ones getting better, good cafeterias staying good even after
management change, and mean managers ruining one school, then moving to a
different school and ruining it too…
One thing
seems obvious to me. The blame is on schools’ administrators. Good and happy
schools have good and happy cafeterias. Those who let cafeterias shut services
to their staff indicate poor leadership and negligence, preventing this bit of luxury,
few minutes of relaxation and adult conversation with peers. This small indulgence
sustained me during times I worked at difficulty schools. The knowledge that
once or twice a day I would spend few minutes with adults who face the exact
same experience was invaluable. Administrators that do not understand that,
don’t deserve to be managers of any type, let alone of school staff.
I had one of
many experiences at a middle school that used to be a pleasant place, and became
unbearable… Students’ bad behavior and administrators’ lack of support are only
part of the problems. The school’s cafeteria has not served teachers and staff
for years, and knowing that I try to avoid it, not always successfully. Cafeteria
with cold coffee, no lunch service, air-conditioned to a freezing point, with outside
broken chairs… At the end of one working day there, the office manager made the
mistake of asking me how my day was. I told her that it would have been OK had the
cafeteria served teachers at lunch. To my surprise an argument had erupted. She
claimed I was wrong, and although she, herself, never goes to the cafeteria, lunch
is being served! She suggested two possibilities, one, that I may not know
where the cafeteria is, the other - that I am lying. No kidding!
Well, not
all substitute teachers are very smart… or trust worthy…
