Lunch staff works hard to serve meals daily  

The lunchroom has looked very different this year. With no lunch tables down and students taking grab-and-go lunches to eat at home, the lunchroom has been left eerily empty. Although Norwood High no longer has a designated lunch period for students in person, free meals are still being offered to all students daily -- both breakfast and lunch. 

Kelsey Massis, the resident dietician at Norwood High, says that preparing the food takes time and that, “Some items will be more simple to make, such as assembling a salad or sandwich” and,  “Other items such as the main entrée meal like General Tso’s with fried rice and steamed veggies is more involved so it takes extra time - cooking the rice, steaming the veggies and making the chicken, lots of different parts”.

Massis also explains that the lunch department “has had to get creative” in terms of encouraging students to take the free meals offered every day. She says that “You have to get all stakeholders involved; district administration, NHS administration, teachers, students and parents” in order to get the word out about the free meals and try to encourage students to take advantage of it. 

“We do the best we can to reduce food waste by menu-ing items we know students will eat,” Massis says. 

It’s impossible to have every student grab lunch, but the lunch department has been doing the best they can in reducing the amount of food left over at the end of the day. Massis goes on to say that NHS is “serving on average 275 - 300 lunches and 70 breakfasts per day”.

Lexi Currivan, a senior at NHS, takes advantage of the free lunches offered daily. Currivan says that she often takes school lunches because she is “very indecisive so it is helpful having something already made for [her].” 

The free lunches offered by NHS are a quick and easy way to get a meal in before the rest of the day’s classes. Both lunch and breakfast are important meals and a beneficial way to get energized for the day. Currivan says her favorite lunch “is either pizza or a cheeseburger,” so stop by any of the lunch stations on your way out of the building and take advantage of a free meal.