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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-06-02, Page 14Crossroads 14 Wednesday, June 2, 2004 Exeter Times Advocate Serving burgers with a side of advice By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — "It's my life's commitment. I love what I do and what more could you ask for?" is how Jennie Rowe describes the job she has had for almost 40 years. Combining two of her passions, cooking and kids, Rowe has been serving food to students at South Huron District High School since 1965. And despite changing eating habits and atti- tudes, Rowe, who just celebrated her 75th birthday, still loves her job and the students she sees every day. She has no plans to retire from either the school position or run- ning her catering busi- ness which supplies lunches to Kraft. "I've never considered retiring. Why would I as long as my health holds out. The hours are great, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with weekends and holidays off. I love my staff and have done many things with them. If you respect them, they'll respect you." "One of the unique things is being associ- ated with kids. It keeps your thoughts young and has always been very interesting." Rowe started working at the school through what she described as a "freak of nature." While working at Stan Frayne's store, she was told about an opening for a supervisor at the school. Although she wasn't sure at the time whether she wanted the job, she applied to Beaver Foods which was running the food ser- vices at the time. Rowe said she was asked two questions during her interview, one of which was her knowledge of cooking. She replied that she liked cooking, kids, work and a challenge and was hired. Although she said it was kind of hairy at first, Rowe received a lot of help from her Aunt. Rowe preferred to take a "what do we do," "how about we do it this way" approach to running the cafeteria, saying "you can't always have it your way." When Rowe started, the school had between 600 and 700 students, increasing until St. Anne's opened when South Huron lost some of its enrollment. The food served has also changed since she started, when there wasn't even a deep fryer or grill. Fish Days, which used to serve 250 dinners, now are down to 10. The school used to have three lunch periods which is now one hour in total. Another change is the money and vehicles students have, allowing them to go outside the school for lunches. "Every time a new food place opens, it takes a little more away." Although she says she has seen a lot of changes, Rowe is proud of the kids she sees every day. "People talk a lot about bad kids but peo- ple come from the city and say it is a great school. We have fabu- lous sports programs and extraordinary music and drama, which are all good things. And Reach For the Top makes our school proud. "We've had fabulous principals and the teachers are just excel- lent." Rowe added students that come from other schools always make nice comments about SHDHS. "Enjoy life. Be the role models, give children some guidelines and be there when they need you.And love them every day." JENNIE ROWE 0 n e moment s h e remem- bers is a Christmas assembly when the students presented her with a present which turned out to be a cookbook, something they said "she always needed." Despite the trend towards making stu- dents eat better by removing pop machines from schools and offer- ing healthy choices, Rowe tries to give the kids what they want to eat. "I ask them what they would like to have put on the menu. If you don't offer it, they'll go somewhere else to get what they want." While healthier choic- es have been added to the menu, as Rowe Jennie Rowe, who has managed the cafeteria at South Huron District High School for the past 39 years. (p hoto /Pa tBole n) says, "you can lead a horse to water. It's there for them." The favourites on the menu are still burgers, fries and lasagna, with the Chicken Steakette an especially big item, to the point some stu- dents have it every day at school. She says kids are more conscious of what they drink, checking labels and consuming "a mega amount of milk." She doesn't agree with parents who believe it is the job of the schools, to do more than teach, such as instilling values and discipline in kids. "It's not the teachers job to teach manners." Besides serving up food over the years, Rowe has also dished up advice to students who have asked ques- tions on everything from dating to flowers or wanted her to go on a "gravel run." Sometimes they were just looking for some- one to talk to, because some, "are starved for affection." She remembers a male student from a well off family who came to talk to her on a regular basis. Asked why he was always around, the stu- dent replied, "I can have anything I want. What I want is love." Although she remains close to the students, the connection isn't as strong as it once was, due in part to the fact her own children are no longer at the school. "You go through stages where you are a mother to the kids at the school, then their grandmother." While she used to know the students names, Rowe says it is more difficult now. "You can't believe the pressure kids are under. We grew up when times were easy and the things we had were more significant. The parents want kids to be grade A students and excel in sports and music. They are in ever so many things, when do they get to be kids?" Even with the thou- sands of students she has seen pass through SHDHS, Rowe says it is hard to tell how some are going to turn out. "There are little dev- ils who are now teach- ers and the kids who you thought wouldn't do well have opened businesses. Boys and girls who were hellions have become wonderful parents. There are kids you think wouldn't go anywhere and it works the opposite way as well." Rowe has provided more than just food to the students, as she has driven them around on Prom Nights and opened her home to them when they needed a place to stay while having problems at home. After receiving per- mission from parents, kids would stay at her home for anywhere from a day to a week, and would realize each home has rules to be obeyed. While the practice died out in the early 1980s, Rowe says it was always good to help out. She tried to do the same for students at school who were not as well off as some, by getting them work in the cafeteria, "which gave them dignity and didn't just hand some- thing to them." One thing Rowe would have liked to do, which she recommends to kids, is to travel. "The opportunities today are magnificent. Kids have that opportu- nity and if you don't have dreams, what do you have?" After spending so much time with stu- dents and raising sev- eral kids of her own, Rowe's theories on chil- dren and raising them are simple. "Enjoy life. Be the role models, give chil- dren some guidelines and be there when they need you. And love them every day."