You don't think about Maria Calabria in the morning, as you scramble to get your family members out the door. But she thinks about you. Or more specifically, about your children. Show Calabria's picture to current or former Deer Hill students, and chances are they'll recognize her and know that she cooks and helps run the school cafeteria.

They probably don't know she cooks three times each day - a fresh batch of the day's offerings for each grade level - rather than cooking once and letting it sit and get mushy. Or that she makes extra items not printed on official school menus (homemade chicken noodle soup on a recent winter day) because she wants everyone to find something to eat. She cooks around 135 lunches daily, assisted by Joanne D'Elia and Josephine Marascio.