Despite serving thousands of breakfast and lunch meals during an academic year, cafeteria teams rarely share in the credit for student success. On May 2, Johnston marked Lunch Hero Day to highlight the importance of food service employees across the district. 

“I wanted to do something special,” said Rachel Aucone, nutrition liaison for the Johnston Public Schools.  Aucone worked at register at the Ferri Middle School for eight years prior to her current role.

“It is an exhausting job, and you really have to be a strong and caring person,” she said via email. “I still have kids that say hi and remember me. It makes it all worth it.”

She noted that it’s people such as the “lunch ladies, custodians and maintenance workers and clerks that make the schools run.”