Waynesboro School

Middle School Kitchen Gets a New Lease on Life
Just to serve breakfast each day, Waynesboro Middle School needed more than a well-trained cafeteria staff and a school of hungry students --- they needed a repair person. "Our equipment at this school has become so dilapidated it seldom worked," said Emma Jean McKee, School Food Services Administrator for the Wayne County School District. "Maintenance had to come here all the time. One maintenance person even came every morning to be sure we could operate for breakfast."

Lease or buy?
School officials had few options due to a limited budget and the amount of equipment that needed to be replaced. Discovering they had an option to lease new equipment was great news for this Mississippi middle school. "We were unable to just go out and purchase all new equipment. The middle school needed so much we couldn't renovate the cafeteria with our budget." That's when Mississippi Power Education Account Representative, Ricky Graham offered a solution to Waynesboro Middle School --- a Kitchen Lease program. "The Kitchen Lease program is a long-term partnership between the school system and Mississippi Power," said Graham. "We evaluated the full needs of the school and designed a program to meet those needs. Then we worked that into a capital lease where Mississippi Power maintains all kitchen equipment for a period of ten years."

Fast food.
School officials immediately saw a difference with their new equipment in place. "We finished in the cafeteria about 20 minutes faster than we normally would," said Waynesboro Middle School Principal, Joe Shanks. "The students were in and out of the cafeteria much faster and they also had more choices like a sandwich line, in addition to the regular line."

Chef's surprise.
Mississippi Power not only helped Waynesboro's cafeteria operate more efficiently, they also provided unexpected benefits to cafeteria workers. "Mississippi Power provided us with staff development form chefs that we never would have gotten for our people," said McKee. "Now they know the school district cares about them too and I think they feel differently about themselves, their jobs and their cafeteria."

School officials were very pleased with the assistance they received and continue to receive from Mississippi Power representatives. According to McKee, they didn't just go the extra mile --- they went "many extra miles."