New food service area at Jackson High School provides students with more space, faster service and wider selection

Brenda Van Matre baked 39 pizzas for lunch at Jackson High School on Monday. Sharon Nagel made 125 salads and a batch of pasta salad.

Just before 11:20 a.m., food service director Liz Aufdenberg uncovered trays of cookies and checked signs. She and 14 cooks prepared for three waves of more than 300 students during lunchtime. On cue, students flooded into the new food service area to fill their trays.

On their first day back, students took advantage of the school's new dining facilities, which include dining stations with different meal options such as homestyle food, deli sandwiches, pizza, grilled food and a soup and salad bar.

Instead of waiting in line, students went to the station of their choice.

"They still love their cheeseburgers," Nagel said, as she restocked the grilling station.

Cafeteria staff members Jenny Zeller, left, and Linda Nagel work the pizza line Monday at Jackson High School. (Fred Lynch)

Despite all the options some students stuck to their tried and true meal, she said. "You would think they'd choose other things," she said.

Students filed by one of five cashiers to enter a pin number to pay for their meal. Van Matre, a cashier, said the lines went smoothly, even with increased options.

The eating area has 25 booths, 35 round tables and seven high tables. It also has wireless Internet access so students can use the area to study before school, said superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson.

He said the goal was to make the dining area more inviting to students.

Brittany Roberts and Brandi Strong, both seniors, ate kettle beef and mashed potatoes at a booth.

Brenda VanMatre checks students through the lunch accounting system Monday in the new dining area at Jackson High School. (Fred Lynch)

"It doesn't seem like you're at school as much," Strong said. She said the tables and booths provide more privacy for students to talk.

Roberts compared the new system to a food court in a mall.

"I like how the new concept is you don't have to wait in one specific line," she said.

Roberts and Strong said they got their food faster than in the old facility.

"Last year we'd probably still be waiting in line," Roberts said.

Both said the area was more spacious. Last year some students ate in the hallway because there was not enough room in the old cafeteria, Roberts said.

With the new facility, the school has more than doubled meal options for students, Aufdenberg said. The kitchen is also more than three times bigger, she said.

"It was close corners," she said. "Now when you walk in there, you have your own spot to work in."

Two employees were hired last year to accommodate the move to the new facility, she said.

The new kitchen and commons area are the final part of the first phase of construction at the high school. The initial $20 million phase included new music facilities, art rooms, a vocation and agriculture building and an event complex with a gym and weight room. Students started practicing in the gym during the summer, Anderson said.

He said the district will be awarding bids for the next phase of construction within the next couple of weeks. The building that housed music and shop classes will be demolished and replaced with another building that will have 27 rooms for classes such as business, foreign languages and journalism.

The finished product will include connecting hallways between the buildings, Anderson said.

"It should be pretty seamless," he said.

abusch@semissourian.com

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