Who Needs a Cape When You Have an Apron?

Welcome Jarrett J. Krosoczka (opens in a new window) to Book Life! New York Times best-selling author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, whose more than 30 published works include fabulous picture books, his wildly popular Lunch Lady graphic novels, and the Platypus Police Squad middle-grade novels, is also the creator of School Lunch Hero Day (opens in a new window).

Guest post by Jarrett Krosoczka

It is hard to believe that this will be the fifth year that we celebrate School Lunch Hero Day. The initiative that I cooked up all those years ago has far surpassed my expectations — it did so in that first year!

The mission was simple — empower students to recognize their hard-working lunch ladies and guys through creative efforts. My heart grows fuller with every photo that gets posted of students presenting their school nutrition professionals with hand-made gifts. The smiles are everywhere.

I’ve seen celebrations in schools from coast to coast and beyond. International schools have celebrated in languages that I don’t even understand. School districts have adopted School Lunch Hero Day celebrations, and I’ve even seen one state take it on! The Virginia Department of Education sent out this memo (opens in a new window).

And when I ask myself, how has this grown to be such a large initiative? It isn’t the catchy name or my graphic novels for which this all spun off of. The educators and administrators at schools surely have helped get things going, but they’re not the real reason either. School Lunch Hero Day is fueled by the love that kids and communities have for the women and men who are cooking our kids’ school lunches everyday.

In many cases, school nutrition professionals are the ones offering up the first smiles a kid will receive that day. They are offering up high-fives and learning each student’s name. They make sure that every single kid has something to eat. Imagine where we would be without our School Lunch Heroes?

They truly are the unsung heroes of our education system. And on the first Friday of May, some kids are literally singing for them.

I cannot wait to peruse the hashtag #SchoolLunchHeroDay this year and see what fun and creative ways students choose to celebrate the folks in their school cafeterias.