Wednesday, March 4, 2009

'Home cooked' meals back on Midway's menu

Pilar Armstrong El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

After a two-year wait, students at Midway Elementary are expected to get their first "home-cooked" meal Friday, March 6.

With a newly renovated cafeteria just days away from completion, school staffers are fired up over the prospect of cooking in their own ovens, putting to rest a project that is nearly two years in the making.

Although the new cafeteria is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of renovations at the Lemitar school, the lunchroom is the first major project to come to fruition.

Friday should mark the end of a hectic, yet well-oiled partnership between Midway and Socorro's Parkview Elementary School — a partnership that has kept Midway's students well fed despite not having facilities.

Since the renovation project began, food service workers at Parkview have produced meals for the students at the little school north of town. A rig equipped with a steam table and food warmer has been used to transport the meals. Once on site, the workers set up a makeshift chow line in a portable building, allowing the little ones to line up and eat — fueling their bodies so their minds are ready for the daily dose of learning.

For Peggy Lopez, it's been somewhat of a challenge.

"It's been challenging because of the distance (to Midway) and scheduling," Lopez, who serves as the school district's food services director, said. "Everyone starts at the same time and we do our best to get the food to them when they want it."

Lopez said that students from Midway received the same items on the school menu as the rest of the students in the school district. The administrative staff at Midway would give the student count to food service workers at Parkview after attendance was taken at in the morning. An average day saw district food service workers bring 85 meals for the Lemitar-area children.

Despite the challenges of getting the food to the school, once it arrived, it was quickly consumed.

"Those kids are good eaters! There's hardly any leftovers," exclaimed Lopez.

Once a meal is complete, workers take any leftover food back to Parkview and quickly get the dishes and utensils ready for the next day's delivery.

According to Lopez, the shipped food has always maintained the same quality and there have never been any health-related issues due to the preparation or transportation of the meals.

"Occasionally the food may be a little dried out, but the kids don't seem to care — they'll eat anything," said Lopez

Although the students and faculty of Midway have been appreciative of Parkview's help, school secretary Doris Hickox said everyone at the school is ready to eat a meal prepared in "their" cafeteria.

"The food has been good. However, the cooks can make the food more personal when they're cooking for 80 students here as opposed to 500 students within the district," Hickox said.

Hickox says the on-site cook would occasionally bake a fresh batch of cookies for the children as a treat.

In With the New, Out With the Old

The decision to renovate the school was made by Midway Elementary School Principal Linda Perdue, after she noticed that the infrastructure had seen better days. Visible cracks, she said, were beginning to show up around the school.

saw visible cracks in the walls of several buildings.

"There were places were the bricks were separated in the old cafeteria and daylight was visible," Perdue said.

Perdue also noted the poor ventilation in the school's main building, old cafeteria and gymnasium.

An inspection of the facility revealed that while the buildings were not ready for condemnation, numerous building code violations prompted the need to renovate.

Once completed, the school's new main building will have an additional classroom, a multi-purpose room, and new heating and air-conditioning system. Perdue said she hopes her students will be learning in a new main building by next fall.

The renovation is currently seven months behind schedule due to delays in inspections and availability of building materials, Perdue said.

The total cost of the renovation is $3.32 million and was funded through capital outlay funds.

parmstrong@dchieftain.com

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