Rachel Cooper is responsible for feeding some 1,300 students breakfast and lunch at Jean Childs Young Middle and L.P. Miles Elementary schools in southwest Atlanta. In return, those students, whom Cooper refers to as “my babies,” feed her soul. Cooper is cafeteria manager at Young and Miles, and while her job certainly involves providing nutritious meals, it is about so much more for her. Like teaching healthy habits, building confidence and doling out a lot of hugs. “Because of my job, my babies can start their day off not only with their breakfast but knowing someone is there for them,” Cooper says. In July, she was honored for her work by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union. But for Cooper, her reward happens at school each day.
Q: Do you like your job?
A: I love my job because I know I'm doing a service. A lot of my babies depend on the meal I provide for them and I have an opportunity to put a smile of their faces.
Q: Sounds like you do a lot of interacting with students?
A: I go out into the cafeteria and talk to them, ask them how their meal was, what they like, what I can change. I have a conversation with them because we have our best conversations over a meal.
Q: Do you think there is a connection between good food and good students?
A: I am a firm believer in that. Just think about our adult day. When we are hungry and cranky, we can't learn. Food is energy, just like gas for a car. It is very important for my babies to have a nutritious meal so they can learn.
Q: Are you are teaching students about more than food?
A: If anybody, a child or an adult, will learn to make healthy choices when it comes to their meals, they, in turn, will make healthy choices throughout life. I believe that with everything in me.
Q: How do you make the school lunch appealing?
A: I make sure that when my babies come down the line, they get the experience of a five star restaurant. I want the Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes and green beans to say, "Come eat me." Since we eat with our eyes, it is very important that the food pops and looks good as well as tastes good.
Q: What is the best thing you make?
A: I think all my meals are the best because I put a lot of love into anything I prepare.
Q: Are middle schoolers really the worst?
A: No. They are curious and are on a mission to learn. You look at them and you see the brightness in their eyes. They are trying to figure out who they are, where they fit in. They are getting their own personalities. We have all been there. We have to embrace where they are.
Q: After you got your big award, your coworkers and your students surprised you with a celebration. How did that make you feel?
A: It was really, really nice. I am usually the person who has one up on everybody else but they got me. They sure did.
Q: You say your job is as important as the President’s. How so?
A: It goes back to what we don't know. We don't know how long a child has been without a meal. We don't know what the circumstances are in that child's life. But I do know that when I open the doors to the cafeteria, I am giving that child something to look forward, letting that child know that someone cares. That meal alone could give them the incentive to go on.
About the Author
