East Side Angels go beyond call of cafeteria duty

Beverly Ward greets East Side students as they pass through the lunch line Wednesday. (T-G Photo by Sadie Fowler) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The five ladies who run East Side Primary School's cafeteria aren't considered angels because of one single act of heroism, but rather, for all the little things they do.

"We have excellent food here, and besides that we have an excellent relationship with the cafeteria staff," said Sara Wood, East Side principal. "They go above and beyond, and are very good to the children."

According to the Bible, "Another role for angels is taking care of children in this world (Matthew 18:10)."

Based on this, Beverly Ward, Ginger Weinstein, Jackie Yoes, Bethany Tucker and Misty Sudberry -- the cafeteria ladies at East Side -- are definitely angels.

"We love our jobs," said Ward, head of the cafeteria staff. "We love the kids and love coming to work every morning ... We'll do anything the kids need us to do."

Each morning, they arrive at 6:30 a.m. to begin preparing breakfast foods for the kids; a duty that is followed up by preparing the day's lunch menu.

But what makes these ladies special is the fun they have while preparing Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, vegetables and rolls -- a school favorite.

"Friday is Halloween, and we're going to dress up as condiments again," Ward said. "They really like it when we dress up. We'll buy candy and they'll come by and trick-or-treat."

While they do something special for every holiday, they're also there to make ordinary days special, like when the kindergarten class masters the letter "C." On that day, they cut up and bring fresh carrots to the classroom for the little ones to eat.

They bake and deliver pizza after a class has done well on a spelling test; apple pies are enjoyed when students are studying Johnny Appleseed (the kids prepare the pies, and then deliver them to the ladies, who bake them). They make gingerbread men come alive for the first graders with their special rendition of "hide and go seek."

But it's not all about pizza, pies and other junk food.

From left, Bethany Tucker, Beverly Ward, Misty Sudberry, Jackie Yoes and Ginger Weinstein make up the cafeteria staff at East Side Primary. (T-G Photo by Sadie Fowler) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Recently, East Side Primary, along with Eakin and Southside, were three of 20 schools in the state to receive grants from the Federal Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP).

"The grant allows us to purchase fresh fruit each week," Ward said. "The students get to eat it during snack time. We've done a lot of taste testing with different fruits. Last week, they sampled the star fruit ... it has been a lot of fun for all of us."

And the ladies admit they've learned a lot, too, like how to serve pomegranate. That will be served next week, along with fresh figs, papaya, and ugli fruit.

"We have to look up some of these fruits on the Internet," laughed Ward.

For Jackie Yoes, who has been a part of the staff for 31 years, the fruit grant is just one change she's witnessed.

"We used to have to make all our own hot dog buns," Yoes said. "And we'd get whole, fresh chickens ... that we would deep fry."

Today chicken is oven baked, just one required change to cut down on fat. They also serve whole wheat bread instead of white bread.

"Nutritionally, the food is much better now," said Ward, who also mentioned that Yoes still makes the best homemade soup around (that will never change).

The quality of the food served to the kindergarten through third graders at East Side matters to the cafeteria ladies.

"You see a lot of heartbreaking stuff," Ward said. "For some kids, lunch might be the only meal they get all day. You don't know what some kids' home lives are like ... We're here to love them, feed them, and put a smile on their faces."

And with the little ones, that's not hard to do, she said.