FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
Thanks is given and received in Troup cafeteria
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

Mozelle Massey is at home in the Troup Elementary cafeteria after 16 years of service.

The first thought of a school cafeteria is not usually connected to learning but to feeding those who are learning. Over the past 16 years, students in Troup schools have learned from the best about being thankful and loving. They have learned that lesson from Mozelle Massey.

Massey has served them from every side of the cafeteria line, always wearing a smile and serving up those fish sticks with a heap of happiness.

"I'm serving the second generation of students now," Massey said. "I've worked every cafeteria job on every campus, but I guess I love the little ones the best."

As those young learners fill her cafeteria, Massey and her faithful crew fill their stomachs with nutritious meals, both breakfast and lunch.

"On our elementary campus here we serve three-year-olds through fifth grade," Massey said. "This week, at our Thanksgiving meal, we ser ved 604 lunches. We had 136 parents and community members come."

"Every day every child in the school gets a free breakfast served in the classroom," Massey said. "They range from cheese toast to breakfast burritos. It's a proven fact that the children learn better when they have breakfast. I'm very happy that we have this program."

Massey says she has seen the cafeterias and kitchens change dramatically over the years. Not just in the way they look, but in the operations and how the meals are prepared.

Massey comes from a food background. She grew up on shrimp boats in Mississippi and migrated to Troup where she worked a truck farm with her husband Wayne for many years.

"My children have been raised to work a farm and they should never go hungry," Massey said. "It was the way I was raised and it has taught me a lot."

Her father traveled the world as a Merchant Marine and saw a lot of sadness and hunger among children. He took those sights to heart and taught his family the importance of caring for others, even if you don't have much yourself.

Massey does just that every day as one of the unsung heroes of TISD. The cafeteria ladies feed the tummies and the souls of the children with healthy food and a heartfelt hope for their success in school and in life.