CLINTON, Tenn. — Thursday's unpredictable winter weather sent a lot of parents scrambling when schools closed mid-day. The snow also put cafeteria workers in an unforgettable time crunch.
"We went in and it was a normal day. All the sudden, it's snowing. Then it starts really pouring snow. I said, 'Ladies we've got to get our food in the oven because I've got a feeling we're going to be sent home.' I have been doing this 25 years and you get a feeling," said Sherry Humphrey, cafeteria manager at Andersonville Elementary School.
Thursday the short-order cooks were on even shorter notice than usual. Lunches that are normally spread out over a few hours were suddenly compressed to a range of 15 to 30 minutes.
"We fed 250 kids in less than 15 minutes," said Humphrey.
"The whole entire school pitched in and helped, we had janitors doing dishes. We had teachers taking chicken out of the oven," said Erica McMahan at Norwood Elementary School in Oliver Springs. "There were chicken legs and baked potatoes through the line like a Kentucky Fried Chicken buffet."
"The ones that didn't have a place to sit in the cafeteria, they took it to their room and ate," said Humphrey.
The work isn't over when students get food in their stomachs.
"You still have dishes to wash, counters to sanitize, food to secure, and so on. That's where we really had a lot of help from other staff pulling together, because you want to make sure your coworkers can get home safely in the snow," said Joyce Brooks at Clinton High School.
All the nutritional staff members throughout Anderson County knew the importance of feeding students Thursday. The meal is much more than a mid-day snack.
"You do it for the love of the student. For some of these students, it may be the only hot meal they get until they come back to school after the weekend," said Angela Cornett, cafeteria manager at Norris Middle School.
A team effort shared warmth and nourishment with students. It also left the short-order workers full with a sense of pride.
"We were like Rocky at the end of his workout. We were all excited. We were champions and we got it done," said McMahan.