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Last week, the Dallas County School District was dealing with a lot of issues regarding its water supply. School had to be released early in the day at 10 a.m.

On that day in particular, the lunchroom staff had to make sure they took care of their students. According to Superintendent Anthony Sampson, the child nutrition program staff at Bruce K. Craig Elementary came in and started cooking. They knew with the water situation that they might have to shut down school early.

“When I walked into Bruce K. Craig, it almost moved me to tears,” Sampson said.” The cafeteria staff had cooked breakfast. They had baked chicken. They cooked collard greens. They cooked yams. They had salad. They had everything. And the kids had two meals before nine even though the water wasn’t working.

“I appreciate them for being there and doing that. I know that’s the way our cafeteria workers work all over the system. They work hard for their school and feeding those children. They didn’t have to come back early to do all that.”

That was an awesome story to hear at the board meeting Thursday. I know there are a lot of challenges that all of our school districts have from a funding standpoint and trying to help the students succeed in life.

But one thing I know for sure is that school breakfasts and lunches may be the only food that kids will have to eat during the day. Many kids may not get another meal throughout the day, but thankfully, the schools can make sure they are fed twice a day while they have them.

We applaud the cafeteria workers for going above and beyond to take care of the children. This isn’t just an occurrence at one local school. I’m sure this happens at every school in our county.

Cafeteria workers are some of the most important people in our schools. They see every student every day of the school year once or twice a day. They pour their hearts and souls into their craft.

Without them, education would not happen. And I want to thank all of you who work in the child nutrition program at each school. Your presence makes a difference.

Brent Maze is the publisher of The Selma Times-Journal. He can be reached at brent.maze@selmatimesjournal.com.