Pam Glastetter is our office administrator. She works for Sodexo, a food service company. She’s been at the high school for 10 years and was originally Caseyville Elementary School’s lead cook. She is in charge of payroll, ensuring all student numbers are inputted, helping with the kitchen, and balancing the cafeteria schedule. If she couldn’t do her current job, she’d like to be a school secretary.

“It’s just good to have something that they like to eat. They come in and they smile and nine out of ten times kids are very pleased to come through the line and very polite,” said Glastetter. “It’s just good to see them smile, you know; they may not get that at home. So, yeah, that’s the best part about it is just knowing that they enjoy coming to lunch.”

Glastetter’s goal is to get more kids to eat. Kids are picky, and that’s expected, but she’d like to have meals that everyone can enjoy and try. She is passionate about what she does and cares deeply for all students!

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned at CHS?
“Make sure the kids are fed on time, make sure there’s a hot meal for them, make sure it’s done whenever they come through, no matter if they’re late, no matter if they’re early, make sure they have food, never run out. That’s that’s the one and only thing. There should be the same quantity of food or quality of food if you’re the last person versus if you’re the first person.”

What motivates you every day?
“I love my job. I like coming to work. They are my work family.”

What advice do you have for students?
“Try to appreciate us. It’s not as easy as you think. I was not a good person coming through the lunch line when I was a kid. I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s what we’re having.’ Now I see what they went through. It’s kind of hard work, but that’s the fulfillment of it, and you know, having it for you guys. Just try to appreciate it a little bit. We appreciate you guys.”

Joy Clutts is the cafeteria lead. She’s been in the district for almost 19 years, working at Twin Echo for 16 and the High School for two. She makes sure the kitchen runs smoothly and jumps in when needed. If she couldn’t do her current position, she would just be happy at home with her grandchildren.

“Younger kids, this might be the only meal they get, you know, and you guys are bigger; you can go home and find something to eat and figure it out,” explained Clutts. “But that’s the main thing, making sure everyone’s fed, and then you get to know everybody, you know, it’s the same kids every day, it’s like they’re like your family.”

Clutts puts in a lot of effort to make sure our lunches run smoothly, She’s seen students grow up and through a ton of different paths of life. Her contributions don’t go unnoticed.

What motivates you every day?
“Just coming to work. I enjoy my job. I enjoy coming to work. We know about their families, you know, it’s we all become one, we see their kids grow up. That’s a big part of it.”

What advice do you have for students?
“I would say, for a senior, help the freshman out more. I’ve said this ever since I came to this school. This is a big school. If I’m a freshman and I walk into this cafeteria the first day, I’m like, ‘holy crap, where do I go?’ ‘What is on the lines,’ you know, because when they just stand there, they’re scared so they just grab the first line because they don’t know, you know? I feel like a senior can walk through and tell them, like, ‘Hey, there’s different lines every time’ ‘This is what’s on this line every day.’ I think that’s the biggest thing, especially for a freshman, you’re going to a brand new huge school, you walk in with all these people in here and you don’t wanna look silly because you don’t know what’s on the lines.”

Juanita Palmer is our hot line cook. She makes sure our food is hot and ready for us every day. She’s been at CHS since August but has already made a lasting impression here. If she couldn’t do her current job, she’d like to continue down the path of cooking.

“I love cooking, my passion is cooking. You know, I like to feed the kids and see them smiling. Like they said, it might be the only meal they get today; you never know. But yeah, I love to see the kids eat.”

Palmer’s goal is to have more options for kids and a more varied menu. Palmer has a strong passion for cooking and she loves coming to work and getting to explore her passion every day.

What motivates you every day?
“The kids. And Jesus, most definitely, he motivates me too.”

What advice do you have for students?
“Always be polite when you come through the line. Now, I’ve had to tell the kids sometimes, ‘Profanity!’ Cause’ they use a lot of profanity, and then they’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ So, you know they’ll be polite and say they’re sorry.”

Many of us know and love Emily Delia, interacting with her every day, but we don’t truly know her. She works our snack bar every day with a smiling face. She’s been at CHS for five years and has built strong connections with multiple students. She’d like to be an Upward Bound counselor if she couldn’t do her current position.

When asked what her favorite part about CHS is, she responded with, “The kids. Like, getting to know all the kids, getting to know everyone. Just making memories, just even being over there, I make a ton of memories. Kids come up to me all the time, and even if they’re not buying something, they’ll come talk to me and tell me hi, and I’ll see how their day is. So I think that’s the number one thing I love.”

Delia is not inexperienced when it comes to kids. She has a set of 5-year-old twins and an 11-year-old! Growing up, she spent most of her time playing soccer. She played for 17 years!

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned at CHS?

“To take care of these kids, because I don’t think a lot of people talk to these kids, and then when they come up and they haven’t eaten or they don’t have the money for it or something else, I think that, that’s the number one thing.”

What advice do you have for students?
“Just let it go. Everything, the drama, the stress, everything, just let it go. That is the number one stress reliever I can give those kids, because it sucks. It sucks to be in school and not have people who understand you, but that’s what I would tell them.”