Longtime lunch lady Diane Ray has made 60,000 sandwiches in 21 years

Every Monday morning at 8:15, lunch lady Diane Ray arrives at the cafeteria, ready to start the week afresh.

Ray has a motherly presence, with brown rimmed glasses and a blonde bob, and she remains calm and unruffled as she prepares her to-do-list, which consists of cutting meat, bread, tomatoes, onions and other sandwich necessities, pausing during break to put out yogurt cups for hungry students before continuing sandwich preparations.

Ray has made over 60,000 sandwiches for students in the 21 years she has worked at SHS, calculated by multiplying the number of sandwiches made per day by the total number of days she has worked.  Currently, she makes 30 sandwiches a day, 20 of which are paninis and 10 of which are regular sandwiches.

“It can get hectic,” Ray said. “The hardest part is making sure I’m on top of keeping up with the demands of students.  Overall, however, it’s a great job.”

Her working life here began in 1993 when Ray, a stay-at-home mom, began looking for work opportunities after her husband lost his job.

Ray originally started out at both Los Gatos and Saratoga High, working for two hours at Los Gatos and bringing her sandwiches back over to Saratoga to work for another two hours.

She now works Mondays through Fridays for five hours a day, making sandwiches and managing lunch lines while checking that the vending machines have been refilled. 

After two decades years at the school, Ray has seen many changes in the menu.

“In terms of food for the kids, we definitely make way more food now,” Ray said. “Not only have we added pizza and breadstick lines, but we also have a soup and salad bar, which we didn’t  have [before].”

On top of that, Ray said the school itself has gotten much busier.

“There are a lot more students now,” Ray said. “And that makes lunch time more hectic, because additional students means more food needs to be made.”

To Ray, however, the students are what makes her job so worthwhile.

“The students at Saratoga are the best part of my day,” Ray said. “Seeing them every day makes me so excited to come in to work.  They are respectful and sometimes even come to me when they need to talk or just want a hug.”

Ray added that over her many years here, she has befriended many students.

“Some of the kids I got to know have come back to visit, and that’s always a pleasure for me,” Ray said. “A few of them are around 30 years old now, but I still hear from them.  It’s amazing to be so close to the students.”

Other students aren’t as kind or well behaved, and she said having to discipline them “is always a drag.”

Pam Carlino, Ray’s supervisor, admires Ray and says that she is a great part of the cafeteria staff.

“Diane is very creative with her sandwiches,” Carlino said. “She brings in different recipes and encourages feedback from the students and staff.  She loves to talk with students and teachers, and is wonderful to have around.”