Cafeteria manager Tina Werner with her staff, pictured left to right: Sue Hoffman, Amanda Mitchell, Russell Booher, Donna Hershberger, Tina Werner, Jennifer Lantz, Erma Little, Chris Rolls, Valerie Leonard, and Cassy Banks. Not pictured: Shanna Jenkins.
By SYDNEE HARRIS | Journalism Student, Mount Union Area Senior High School
Mount Union, Pa. — As the new school year began, the cafeterias at the Mount Union Area School District introduced updated menu items and improvements under the direction of a new manager. Tina Werner, the district’s new cafeteria manager, worked with her cafeteria staff all summer brewing up new and improved meals for the upcoming school year. Her success has already impressed both students and staff, especially since this is her first year in the position.
Mrs. Werner takes immense pride in her role and makes it a priority to meet the students’ wants and needs. Each month, she collaborates with her staff to create updated menus and new items. When she accepted the position, she recognized the need for greater variety, and she committed herself to making those changes. She introduced a specialty pizza, sub, and salad of the week. In addition, the cafeteria offers a variety of items that rotate every six weeks. Mrs. Werner draws inspiration for these items from a large online recipe collection, but she removes unpopular items to make sure they are not served again.
Students were thrilled with the new menu choices. When asked about student feedback, Mrs. Werner claimed, “The students just absolutely rave to all my servers. I have noticed that buffalo chicken pizza is a favorite, so that is in the six-week rotation twice.” She added that her personal favorite new item is the super sub, specifically because the presentation is beautiful and it allows her staff to “truly do what they love.” In the next six-week rotation, she plans to add dust-and-dip wings as well as ribs.
Mrs. Werner has had tremendous success during the first month of the school year, and she still has plans for the upcoming months and years. She has partnered with a company called Good Source to provide nutritious chicken and hopes to bring back iced cookies and potato chips to the “smart snack” station. She also plans to add new breakfast options soon. Her goal has been to move away from traditional menu items and ideally provide more unique meals. When asked what she would serve if cost were not a factor, she replied, “A Thanksgiving dinner, but not just the traditional cafeteria Thanksgiving dinner. The full nine yards, a pure Thanksgiving meal.” She explained that she would choose a Thanksgiving meal because not all students have the opportunity to experience a traditional holiday meal.
Mrs. Werner begins her day around 6:30 a.m., preparing breakfast. When students arrive, she greets junior high and Vo-Tech students at the main entrance with bagged breakfast meals. Her work continues throughout the day as she constructs new menus, completes paperwork, places orders, answers questions from her staff, coordinates with delivery drivers and maintenance workers, and answers phone calls and emails. Through it all, she says she has faced no major challenges. “Everyone was thrilled and was on board with creating new items,” she shared. Above all, Mrs. Werner credits her team for making the transition smooth. She notes that everyone has been supportive and willing to help with anything. “Between all three schools, I could not ask for a better group,” she said.
This article was published as part of Ms. Dimoff’s Journalism class at Mount Union Area Senior High School.
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