Grand Junction High School welcomed new lunch staff and a unique cafeteria setup as students returned to school for their first year in the new building.
Ted Riley, a former chef for Outdoor Wilderness Lab (OWL) and who previously owned his own restaurant, is the brand new head chef for the brand new GJHS cafeteria.
“[The district was] familiar with how I work and I love working with people,” Riley said.
Food is available for GJHS students in the mornings from 7:30 to 10 a.m. and during lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. During the available times students can take advantage of the “scatter” system where they can walk in the cafeteria during passing periods, releases, lunchtime and any available time in order to get food.
“We will truly be GJ all day,” Riley said
Riley said over 70% of all food is made from scratch including all the dressings such as BBQ sauce. There will be burgers and pizzas throughout the week with new recipes coming down the road.
An example of a new school food recipe includes the incoming Tiger Salad which will have carrots and black beans to match the school colors.
“The challenge is to process over 500 freshmen through the lunch lines and make sure everyone gets lunch,” said GJHS Dean of Students Tom LeFebre.
This is the second year that school lunch has been free of charge for students in Colorado, which further speeds up the GJHS lunch line.
GJHS has more reliance on the school cafeteria due to freshmen no longer being allowed to leave campus during lunchtime. Freshmen are expected to stay on campus during lunchtime and return the lunch trays back to the cafeteria sometime before lunch ends.
Sophomores through seniors are allowed to go off campus during lunchtime.
GJHS sophomore Jaden Channel said, “[The Lunch food] is not much different from last year but it’s still pretty good.”
Riley said in the future there will be game day meals for all sports. Game day meals are in the works and still need to be finalized. There may not be game day meals for every single game.
Alex Guerrero, a football player and junior at GJHS, said, “The breakfast burritos are pretty good, but the breakfast pizza is gross.”
Trina Sturgeon, a first-year school cafeteria employee, said she enjoys working with her co-workers and is working to get the new kitchen figured out.
Alongside the new cafeteria and new recipes coming to GJHS will also be providing meals in the cafeteria for Lunch Lizards around the valley. According to Mesa County School District 51 the Lunch Lizard is a food program that provides free food to anyone under the age of 18 throughout many different neighborhoods and community locations.
Ted Riley said that he and the lunch staff prepare the meals at the school cafeteria and the Lunch Lizard delivers them offsite.
“Our desire is to serve the community of GJHS with the same degree of excellence that is manifested in all areas of the school, and we appreciate the support of the student body and staff as we start this new chapter together,” Riley said.
The Lunch Lizard provides free food to three schools in the valley such as Cactus Montessori, Grand River Academy, and Mesa Valley Community School.
