PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
March 28, 2013
Contact: Blanca Gallegos 213-387-8393 ext. 219
cell: 213-500-9594
LOS ANGELES, CA — Cafeteria workers will see many of their daily experiences and insights dramatized in Lunch Lady Courage, a production of Cornerstone Theater and the Los Angeles High School of the Arts (LAHSA). The play’s central character is a school lunch lady whose role as both a school employee and a parent give her a unique perspective on issues of hunger, health, poverty and how they impact education. The play is presented at the Cocoanut Grove Theater at the Robert F. Kennedy Community of Schools campus in Los Angeles. It runs from March 28 through April 13 with a special SEIU Local 99 Night on April 5 where real life cafeteria workers and other school service workers will be a part of the audience.
Cafeteria workers contributed to the development of the play, which delves into the issue of food in our schools and how something so essential is often complicated by economic and social issues. As the play was being written, real life lunch ladies (and gentlemen) participated in a story circle with playwright Peter Howard to share insight on their experiences. He took their actual words and beautifully wove them into the script. Frank Boeheim, a Local 99 member and cafeteria worker at Bethune Middle School in South Los Angeles, is a part of the cast made up of professional actors, students, and members of the community.
“I’ve never performed in a play before,” said Frank. “As a cafeteria worker I can say that Lunch Lady Courage is pretty accurate. I think everyone involved in this play – from the students to the actors to the costumers to the set builders – have learned that it isn’t easy to change school lunches. It’s complicated.”
“SEIU Local 99 is proud to partner with Cornerstone Theater and the Los Angeles High School of the Arts to help amplify the voices of often forgotten workers,” said Courtni Pugh, Executive Director of SEIU Local 99. “We may not often think about the people who prepare the cafeteria food or clean the classrooms or drive the school buses, but their daily work forms the backbone of education in our schools.”
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SEIU Local 99 represents nearly 45,000 employees in public and non-public organizations in early education, child care, K-12, and community college levels. SEIU Local 99 members are: Teacher’s Assistants, Special Education Aides, Bus Drivers, Gardeners, Custodians, Cafeteria Workers, Maintenance Workers, Child Care Providers, and others working in schools, colleges, and administrative offices throughout Southern California. Nearly 50% of SEIU Local 99 members are also parents or guardians of school-aged children.
