Every day, when the bell rings, hundreds of students line up for free meals. But before the serving windows open and lunches are handed out, the kitchen staff have already spent hours preparing the food.
For kitchen head Cristina Gómez, her assistant Patricia Molina, and their four coworkers, the day begins early. Molina wakes up at 5 a.m. in order to arrive at M-A by 6:30 a.m., and Gómez at 5:30 a.m.
Upon arriving, Molina and Gómez turn on the ovens and warmers and begin preparing food. As their coworkers arrive, they cook, pack meals, and prepare the serving stations together. “The first three hours of the day [are] running up and down, up and down,” Molina said.
Gómez, who heads the six-person team, is in charge of ordering supplies and coordinating everyone’s tasks. However, when the team is short-staffed, she arrives earlier or asks another school’s kitchen for help. “It doesn’t matter if one person is missing; we still have to [get] the job done,” Molina said.
According to Gómez, the team serves roughly 1,400 meals a day, depending on the menu. Pizza Fridays are especially busy, with the staff purchasing and preparing 110 boxes of pizza.
Gómez hopes students won’t come just on pizza days, though. “There was a lot of work by several people to have that hamburger, that pizza, or that meal ready,” she said.
Molina says it can be hard to see students throwing lunches away, and encourages students to recognize the effort that goes into the food’s preparation. “I’m like, ‘Come on, you guys! It took us a while to make this,’” Molina said.
Gómez understands that students won’t like every meal, but she appreciates when they give something unfamiliar a chance. “If they don’t like it, I can understand, but knowing they at least tried it makes me happy,” she said.
That care extends to the serving windows, where staff get a chance to interact with students. “It’s a lot of work, and we do it with a lot of care for all [students],” Gómez said.
Gómez has spent roughly 14 years watching students come and go through the lunch line. “There are some [students] who, for some reason, stay with you,” Gómez said.
With the students who take the time to talk with her, Gómez learns their names, listens to their stories, and asks about their plans for life after graduation. She recalls some stopping by to say goodbye before leaving M-A.
During the summer, Gómez has more time to personally connect with students. She still remembers one student who spent his meals sharing his life details with her. “It really touched my heart,” she said. “But this year I haven’t seen him. So I think he went where he had planned to go.”
When her day ends at 2 p.m., Gómez goes home to her 8-year-old son. Once she has more time, she hopes to return to school to improve her English.
Gómez’s assistant, Molina, spends her mornings helping get meals ready on time, and she has to adjust quickly when plans change. “I got to make sure that we’re all doing our jobs so everything can run on schedule,” Molina said.
When it comes to students’ futures, Molina also likes to provide advice. She often asks seniors about their plans and encourages them to try college rather than going straight to work. “I try to especially take advantage of the little time that I have with them,” she said.
Molina loves when students return to tell her what they’ve done, especially those who hadn’t originally considered college but changed their minds. “I’m so glad I made that little difference, just by talking to them,” she said.
Outside of work, Molina enjoys hiking, jogging, and taking her two young grandchildren on walks.
For kitchen staff member Alicia Peña, connecting with students starts with a greeting. She enjoys saying hello as they pick up their meals.
During her first year at M-A, one student asked Peña for cereal every day. Before winter break, he gifted her a card thanking her for the daily cereals. “[He] wrote me a very beautiful card,” Peña said. “I didn’t know how much [the cereal] meant to him.”
With so many students moving through the line, Peña doesn’t always get to know everyone she serves. But as a mother of two, she tries to treat them all with kindness. “I always like to treat them well because I would like someone else to treat my children the same way,” Peña said.
Peña enjoys watching TV series, going to the movies, and spending time with her two children, one in college and the other attending M-A next year.
Through all the early mornings, the rush to prepare meals, and the conversations through serving windows, the most rewarding part of the job is hearing students express gratitude. “When you guys appreciate, ‘Oh, thank you for making this, thank you for making that,’ that brings joy to us,” Molina said.
For Peña, that appreciation can be as simple as two words. “For me, it would simply be a thank you,” she said. “It feels really nice when you give [students] food, and they say thank you.”
For these staff members, a school day includes more than the meals they prepare. Whether that means conversations with students about their future plans, alumni returning years later with stories and updates, or students showing gratitude.
