If the COVID-19 pandemic increased challenges and concerns for adults, then it certainly amplified those concerns for children. School children across the country found themselves struggling with food insecurity, as they could no longer reliably turn to school for help.
But in Dumas, Arnetta Pugh is doing everything in her power to make sure that kids stay well by keeping them fed. Pugh recalls that when she was a child, she wanted to be just like her favorite school role models: the lunch ladies.
“I adored the lunch ladies, watching them from the glass doors, spraying trays and rolling dough and picking beans. For years, I worked different jobs in food service. But about eight years ago, my dream came true of being the school lunch lady. One of my church members told me about the position. I immediately applied and got the job. I worked as a cook for about five years until the manager retired, and I moved up into her position,” Pugh said. “When I was a child, I told my favorite lunch lady that one day I was going to take her job. Twenty years later, here I am.”
Pugh’s day starts with music and prayer.
“I might listen to gospel, or blues, or R&B, depending on what I’m feeling. I’ll read a couple of devotionals and get dressed for work. My drive is the time for meditation and prayer,” Pugh said. “Setting the tone of the day is very important for me.”
Pugh said that there, along the way, she makes her transformation.
“Once I cross the railroad track, I’m no longer Arnetta. I am the Lunch Lady,” she said.
At 6:30 in the morning, before some people are even waking up, Pugh is flipping switches and checking temperatures, preheating ovens and preparing for breakfast.
“We serve a hot option like breakfast burritos and sausage and biscuits or a cold option of cereal. All meals come with fruit, milk and juice. As the kids come in, I greet them and check them out,” Pugh said.
As one meal ends, preparation for another begins.
“After breakfast, I do paperwork. I also help my team with prepping lunch. Some of our kids’ favorite lunch things are anything chicken: chicken strips, wings, spicy chicken sandwiches. We serve lunch and clean up for the day,” Pugh said. “We have a wide menu covering anything from comfort food to themed holiday meals. Fresh salads are made every day. Because of the pandemic, we also offer virtual meals to our students,” Pugh said.
When Pugh finishes caring for her students, she becomes a student herself.
“After I clock out, I go to class, as I am also a full-time student at the University of Arkansas at Monticello,” Pugh said. “My days start early and end late but I’m content knowing I helped to provide the brain fuel my students need to succeed in class.”
Pugh gained attention in her community a few years ago when she began to deliver meals to her students who couldn’t make it to school during the pandemic.
“We even deliver to various pickup spots in the community to ensure all our students are served nutritious meals. We cooked and packed days’ worth of meals at a time to serve our students from the back of a school bus. We rode down street after street tooting the horn awaiting, someone to pick up the breakfast and lunch for the kids.”
Pugh talks about some of the skills that an individual might need to become a cafeteria manager.
“Believe it or not, you do need math to fry chicken. So math is essential to my job,” Pugh said. “Having good reading and comprehension skills is also a must, as well as a positive attitude.”
Pugh said the job can be a tough one, but that compassion goes a long way.
“The number one lesson that I have learned in my position is that if you treat people fairly and with compassion, they have a better outlook on their job,” Pugh said. “You absolutely have to enjoy this kind of thing because the reward is not in your bank account.”
As Pugh looks to the future, she hopes that someday soon, she can become a teacher herself.
“I see myself teaching. I love what I do, but I want to teach my babies to take care of themselves. So I am working towards that,” Pugh said. “No dream is too small. You can be whoever you want to be.”