The life of a lunch lady

By Vanaya Hill, Sara Muczynski and Layla Casanova

Waterford Kettering High School’s lunch ladies, while often overlooked, play an important role in the school day. Dana Potter is a 48-year-old woman who serves lunch at Waterford Kettering. She was born in Flint, Michigan and shortly raised in Swartz Creek. Potter has been a lunch lady for seven-and-a-half years and has no plans on stopping.

Potter has worked as a lunch lady at almost every school in Waterford.

“I’ve worked at all elementary schools in Waterford at least once,” Potter says. “I’ve also worked at Mason, Durant, Stepanski and now Kettering.”

Potter gets to school every day at 5:45am and doesn’t leave until 2 p.m. Potter’s job consists of a lot more than just serving lunch.

“I do all the ordering from vendors,” Potter says. “I figure out my girls schedules and where they are going to be for the day, I make sure breakfast and lunch are safe and ready for serving. I train my girls on register, I do safety checks with temperatures and run around like a crazy person making sure me and my girls get out in time.”

Potter has three children, one graduated from Kettering and two that attend Kettering currently. Potter loves Kettering and is super involved in the school.

“I love Kettering kids,” Potter says. “I really do love this school. My husband and I are very involved. My husband coaches robotics and I run a crochet club after school.”

Potter is a hit with the fellow ladies in the lunchroom.

“Working with Dana is awesome,” the other lunch ladies said. “It’s hard to find a boss like her around here”