Post by Junetta Mitchell: Junetta was hired as a baker at Bettendorf High School in 1991. She currently serves as kitchen manager & spends her time spreading joy to others.
I try to find the joy in every day. I know that could sound funny to some,
knowing that my day starts out around 4:30 in the morning. Life has not always been a bed of roses, as
some of you know I have had fifteen surgeries on my leg in the past three
years. Like most people I have had some
hard knocks in life; but I made it and am still making it through. The key is
never stay down. Never stop and never
just give up. No matter what find the
joy. And keep a BIG smile on your face.
I have had a passion to work in food service all my life. I was taught at an early age how to cook and
bake. The joy that you receive by making others smile and enjoy the rich flavor
of food is the best part of it all.
The Blackhawk Hotel was where I started this passion doing
the Sunday brunch and the Festival of Trees dinners; making the food and then being able to serve
it to people and watch them enjoy and come back for just a little more. But it took all the team work in the kitchen
to pull it off. I also enjoyed baking and decorating wedding cakes. I guess you can say I enjoy art and sculpting.
Mr. Collins my elementary art teacher
would be proud. I worked at the hotel fifteen years and then decided I wanted
to be home with my daughter on the weekend so I pursued a job with the school
system.
I came to the
Bettendorf school system as the baker in 1991. I was able to make the students
smile and talk about all the home made baked goods. The smell of cinnamon
rolls, fresh bread, cookies, pies, and just food in general. Watching the students eating breakfast and
lunch was such a good feeling; to know that you used your hands to put a smile
on a student’s face to start the day. It is such a joy to enjoy your job and to
be able to go home and smile about making someone’s day.
My hat goes off to the staff that I work with now. We all are different and that is what makes a
well-rounded kitchen. Everyone plays an important
role in making the day go well. If we
have a cook and no dish washer we have no lunch or if we have lettuce and no
one to put it all together then sorry but no tossed salad for lunch today. It takes all of the team to make it work, from
the Grab-N-Go to the lunch line, the truck drivers, and the servers. It takes our director to count the calories on
the menu and the supervisors to help and support the staff daily as well as the
teachers and assistance from our administrators at the schools to the
custodians, bus drivers and police liaison. The principals come down to say
hello and to see how our day is going. Now
that is joy and it puts a smile on our faces knowing we did all we could to
make someone happy.
The joy that children give to you when they have a warm meal
to start the day helps all of us in the long run. I am enjoying raising my five
year old granddaughter who is lactose intolerant I am gaining knowledge of
working with special diets and even pureed foods. We try to make everyone feel
good about eating and enjoying a school lunch, breakfast or snack. It takes the
para educators that assist in feeding some of the students. The joy of watching
some of the students dance or jump when they come through the lunch line just
puts a big smile on our faces. We have some of the best students in our school. When we serve them they say please and thank
you and even say hello when just walking in the hallways.
I am not doing the baking or cooking for the district now,
but trust me I am out on the floor watching and helping daily. On the phone I
am helping parents, students and any staff member when they call. I pick up the
phone with a smile and try to spread some joy to them.
Just remember no matter what you do find the joy in it and
it won’t seem like such a hard job. In a
few years I plan on taking another step in life; working in Cedar Rapids with young people to
help boost them and to keep paying the joy forward.
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