‘Prepare the rice the teacher cooks!’

At this time, the 12th grade students are entering the “sprint” stage to enter the upcoming high school graduation exam. At Trung An High School (Co Do district), in order to help the children have delicious and safe lunches during exam preparation time, the school’s teachers have become chefs, empowering students.

The meals are taken care of by the teachers so that the 12th grade students can rest assured to study for the exam. Starting from 9-6, every day, the canteen of Trung An High School is bustling from dawn. The teachers went to the market to buy food and then went back to prepare and cook. At about 10 o’clock, the dishes were finished, they made a portion of rice so that the children could have rice to eat after school. On the day we arrived, the teachers were preparing 200 meals with 30 vegetarian meals according to the students’ needs, the rest was salty food. The teachers are “non-specialist chefs”, but the meal is very attractive: braised shrimp, melon soup cooked with meat, stir-fried vegetables; and vegetarian dishes are fried mushrooms, vegetarian rolls… and dessert is watermelon. The children who ate the rice were all touched and praised. The image that touched many people was that the teachers were all working in the kitchen. The girls stand in the kitchen to fry, the teachers prepare vegetables, make shrimp, cut meat… the atmosphere is bustling and full of fun. Helping teachers with 12th graders who do not have classes, some parents of students near the school also support and especially students who have just finished 10th and 11th grade assigned to groups. to the canteen to help teachers. Trinh Minh Thanh, who is about to enter grade 12, shared: “I came to help my teachers cook for my brothers and sisters. We want to empower you to confidently enter the exam. Besides, next year I will be in 12th grade, and then I will be supported by the students in the lower grades like that.” Mr. Le Van Dung, Principal of Trung An High School, said: The model of cooking lunch for grade 12 students during the preparation time for the high school graduation exam has been implemented by the school for the past 3 years. This year, the scale of cooking is more with 200 meals per day or more. Because this is the time of “sprint”, the school creates conditions for the children to have lunch, take advantage of the rest to review in the afternoon. Besides, the organization of eating at school also ensures food hygiene and safety, and fosters the spirit of the students to strive for learning. Mr. Dung added that, in order to implement cooking for students, right from the beginning of the second semester of the school year, the school planned and informed the students’ parents, receiving enthusiastic response. The cost of cooking is from the socialization of students’ parents, school teachers and benefactors. Ms. Nguyen Thi Chinh, a clerical worker at Trung An High School, who goes to the market to cook every day, said: Right from noon the previous day, the teachers discussed with each other what the menu for the next day was. After the menu is available, the teacher will notify the class president so that the students can notify their friends and register for a meal, including vegetarian and non-vegetarian. From 6 am the next morning, Ms. Chinh went to the market with a carefully calculated amount of food. Just like that, the meals for students are more and more professional and delicious. Chinh smiled gently: “I’m happy to see the children eat well and satisfy their appetite”. As for Mr. Vo Cong Minh, Secretary of the Union of Trung An High School, always present early every day to finish the meal for the newly returned students, sharing: “Teachers want to contribute a little effort so that the children can have more motivation. Successful completion of the upcoming exam”. For the 12th graders, when talking about school lunches, each student has an emotion, but they all express their gratitude to their teachers for their concern. The children confided that, seeing the teachers who are busy with chalk on the podium every day in the kitchen cooking each dish, it was really touching. There are many children from far away, who register to eat at school in time to rest in the afternoon to continue studying; I have a brother, my parents work all day, so I choose to stay at school to eat lunch with my friends. But there are also children who choose to have lunch at school for a very lovely reason. Truong Thi Bao Tran, grade 12, shared: “I choose to eat at school to chat with friends and teachers. It won’t be long before we have to leave school and teachers.” There are meals that are seasoned with love, cooked with the love of teachers. Therefore, the children borrowed the name of a reality TV show that “varied” when talking about meals at Trung An High School: “Prepare the rice the teachers cooked!”.