Celebrity chef visits Knoxville elementary school to celebrate cafeteria workers

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Celebrity chef Carla Hall visited Blue Grass Elementary Hall on Friday to honor the cafeteria staff for National “School Cafeteria Takeover.”

The popular chef said cafeteria professionals are so important to students outside of just preparing their meals at school. She explained what she cooked for them, a small way for her to honor them.

“Today we are going to be doing a lunch for the cafeteria workers and we’re doing a turkey and butternut squash risotto where we’re taking like turkey and searing it off and we’re going to make that a risotto,” Hall said.

Becky Key, the cafeteria manager said seeing Hall surprise the students was a great moment for her and her team.

“We do everything we can to help the kids have a good day,” Key said.

Sawyr Mingshee Gleason, a second-grade student, said the cafeteria workers are important to him and his classmates.

“If there wasn’t any food and nobody had the lunch box no one would be able to eat anything, and we would all be really hungry,” Gleason said.

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