Cape schools serve 3,000 lunches a day

Lisa Elfrink does not shy away from serving vegetables in the Cape Girardeau School District's cafeterias. She has her own theory about serving broccoli, cauliflower, peas and carrots: The more you put vegetables in front of a student, the more you increase the chances of him or her trying them and actually liking them, she said.

"I'm going to keep serving those peas and carrots, and eventually someone will eat it," said Elfrink, coordinator of nutrition services.

She has been running the district's $1.76 million food operation for 20 years. Every day it takes 56 employees to serve the district's nearly 4,000 students. The schedule varies by school, but in general workers arrive around 6 a.m. and stay until 1 p.m. or later.

The district serves an average of 3,000 lunches a day in nine schools. Students eat 1,400 breakfasts a day, on average. During the 2008-2009 school year, the district served 466,968 lunches.

Collectively, the cafeterias will serve about 61,000 beef patties this year. Students will consume about 31,300 chicken nuggets.

Every morning Bob Sides makes deliveries to the schools to maintain their supplies of items like chicken patties, fruit and tomato sauce. He arrives at the warehouse at the administrative offices on Clark Avenue after 6 a.m.

He loads items out of a freezer that resembles a semitrailer in the early morning hours. To ease into the cold before walking in, he said he airs out the freezer, which dips to about minus 10 degrees. The chill, he said, does not faze him much anymore.

"I'm usually dressed for that kind of thing," he said.

Different schools receive deliveries on different days. Sometimes it takes two or three trips to a school per morning to complete the delivery.

He said he tries to coordinate his deliveries to beat the student traffic. But the students, his favorite part of the job, always appreciate his role.

"The kids see me, and they know I bring the goodies," he said.

Over the years, Elfrink has seen changes in nutrition and the cafeteria business.

She plans menus for different grade levels, including kindergarten through fourth grade, fifth through eighth grade and high school. There is more focus now on maintaining certain levels of sodium, fat and carbohydrates in students' diets. Before the U.S. Department of Agriculture put more emphasis on serving a set amount of fruit, vegetables and protein.

Cafeterias are now cashless as well. Every student has an account with a four-digit PIN. Elfrink said the system adds another layer of accountability for parents, who can pay online and monitor their children's eating habits. It gives them another tool to teach students nutrition.

"It's got a whole lot more uses than paying money on your kid's account," she said.

The most popular food trend among students is a chicken and chili cheese rolled in a tortilla, known as the crispito. She said the delicacy has developed such a big following among students, it earned its own day at the high school. Every Thursday, she said, is crispito day.

As far as the vegetables go, she said she learned over the years that adding a little cheese sauce doesn't hurt -- in some cases.

"I haven't tried putting cheese sauce on peas," she said.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

Did you know...

• 9,659 students attend school in Cape Girardeau County's five public school districts.
• About 2,390 students attend the county's 10 private schools, which vary in grade levels.
• 882 certified staff, including counselors, administrators and teachers, operate the county's public school districts
• 484 high school graduates in the county's public schools took the ACT college entrance exam in 2009
• Jackson is the biggest public school district in the county with more than 4,745 students. Its teachers have an average of 12.2 years of experience, the lowest in the county.
• Nell Holcomb is the smallest school district in the county with about 305 students K-8. Its teachers have an average of 14.1 years of experience, the highest in the county.
• Delta is the smallest K-12 district in the county with about 312 students.
• Students in the Cape Girardeau School District attended school for 1,120.5 hours during the 2009-10 school year. County schools averaged 1,113.14 hours of instruction last year.
• 46.2 percent of teachers in the Cape Girardeau School District have an advanced degree. District teachers have an average salary of $39,757.
• 48.6 percent of teachers in the Jackson School District have an advanced degree. District teachers have an average salary of $40,536.
• 68 percent of the Jackson School District's $42.5 million budget goes toward salaries and benefits, about $28.9 million.
• More than 75 percent of the Cape Girardeau School District's $42.9 million operating budget goes toward personnel, about $32.18 million.