The grainy rattle of the school bell reverberates through classrooms, accompanied by the hurried scrape of students jumping out of their seats; this cacophony marks the beginning of the long-awaited lunch break. As Falcons settle into their respective lunch spots across campus, others run into the Falcon Eatery to start their shift as lunch servers.
With their hands gloved and all surfaces sanitized, the nutritional services staff are ready to attend to the ravenous student body rushing to lunch lines.
For Falcons who frequent the Eatery, Krystle Harris, the nutrition services supervisor, is a familiar face. Harris is the only full-time employee, and her position comes with specific responsibilities.
“I start at six in the morning, and I usually start preparing breakfast,” Harris said. “[I do] whatever cooking needs to be done. I have to sanitize everything every morning … and then, I start preparing for lunch that day.”
When Harris is not serving or preparing food, she is preoccupied with “orders and paperwork.”
Harris realized her passion for nutrition later in her career and discovered that the job was more than a source of income.
“I’ve been doing this [for] almost 16 years now, so it was probably … 12 years ago [that] I realized ‘Hey, maybe I should go to school and, like, actually learn about nutrition and maybe try to do something with this [education],” Harris said. “I am currently obtaining a degree in nutrition, so I’m graduating with my associate’s degree this summer, and then I’ll be transferring to get my bachelor’s degree, and then I still have to get my master’s degree to become an actual registered dietitian.”
Harris hopes to improve the nutritional standard of school meals within the district.
“I… have a goal of possibly being a director of nutrition services, and that way [I will be] able to…make adjustments and hopefully make things better for food services,” Harris said. “I think most students would really like… more fresh food.”
When she began working in the district, she established bonds with her coworkers and the students she served.
“I started in this district in 2021, and these are the girls I worked with [when I began], and there’s just such a great connection that we have together,” Harris said. “We all help each other,” Harris said. “There’s no, like, ‘I’m a supervisor…you guys do the work.’ We all work together as a team.”
Some of Harris’ coworkers, like Gudam Hwang (12), are students themselves. Hwang began working at the lunch line to gain experience he felt he was lacking.
“I’ve never done any…part-time jobs or internships, so I just wanted an experience of [what] it feels like,” Hwang said.
Other student employees, like Grace Ma (10), applied to pursue a passion that aligned with the job.
“Work experience and money [were] a…big factor, but I was interested in pursuing nutrition for a long time,” Ma said. “But I have since reconsidered that route.”
Some students may recognize the current staff from their time as middle schoolers at Carmel Valley Middle School (CVMS), as four of the five current staff members worked there as well.
“I was the manager at [CVMS], and then the supervisor here retired,” Harris said. “So I applied for the position here, I got it, and I told [my staff], ‘I’m moving to Torrey Pines, and they actually happen to have three openings open right now.’ I said… I would love [them] to come with me.”
Harris cherishes her encounters with Falcons.
“Believe it or not, I really do like the small interactions I have with students,” Harris said. “That’s one of the things I really loved about this job: being able to just serve the students every day and try to make their day as good as possible.”
