IHS offers a large support system for students, but too often staff members are overlooked. Meet the Staff is a way to get to know staff members who are underrepresented despite what they do for the students at IHS. Below are interviews with Branko Mrdjenovic, a bus driver, and Jamie Zervos, the kitchen manager at IHS.
Branko Mrdjenovic
Aurora Wulff ’19: What is your job description?
Branko Mrdjenovic: I am a school bus driver.
AW: What is your favorite part of the job?
BM: Having good kids to drive home, and I have good kids.
AW: What is the worst part of the job, and what’s the biggest challenge in this job?
BM: Once in a while there is a troublemaker on the bus. And I hate to say it because generally I think that all the kids are good, so the trouble must come from the family.
AW: What is one thing students could do to make your life easier?
BM: Smile when they come on and leave the bus.
AW: Do you have any stories about your job?
BM: The best part was I used to have a little kid, and he was nice with a big smile. And one day before Christmas he came to the bus and asked me, “Are you poor? I have some money for you.” He had a couple of pennies and dimes in his hand and that was absolutely the best. And I told that story to his mom later on.
AW: What are your hobbies outside of school?
BM: Collecting watches and fishing.
Jamie Zervos
AW: What is your job description?
Jamie Zervos: I’m the kitchen manager for the high school. It means I help write the menu, I order all the food, and I put it away. I also manage the staff, and I do a lot of decision-making on what’s going to be made that day.
AW: What is your favorite part of the job?
JZ: Watching the kids enjoy eating the food.
AW: What is the worst part of the job, or what is your biggest challenge in this job?
JZ: When kids won’t try something, it’s a challenge because other people try it and say, “Oh, it’s really good,” but they just won’t try it and give it a chance. I think a challenge sometimes is wanting to make more than what kids are willing to eat or try. Labor sometimes is also a challenge, and sometimes we just get short-handed. You know, lunch comes pretty quick at 10:30 in the morning.
AW: Do you have any funny stories about the job? What is the craziest thing that has happened?
JZ: I think something that is memorable for me is when the kids come in the kitchen and they’re like, “Wow, you guys cook here?” I guess I feel like that’s a no-brainer because I feel like they should smell food throughout the school because we are always making something, but they’re like, “Wow, you really know how to do those things.” I guess for me I shouldn’t think that way because of having my kids’ friends over. I think cooking is a lost art where parents don’t cook like they used to when I was a kid. Now kids are like, “Wow, that’s not bad, but you made it?” or “Did that come out of a box?” So I think that’s enlightening for me. Or students comment on how big our kitchen is when they actually get a chance to come in here, and they’re like, “Wow, this kitchen’s really big! What do you guys do in there?”
AW: What is one thing students could do to make your life easier?
JZ: Instead of telling me they don’t like something, it would be great if they said why they didn’t like it, or if they would tell me things they would like to see on the menu that would be reasonable. It’s not going to be steak and lobster, but I’m definitely open to hearing things they want more of. I want to feed them what they want, and I want them to eat.
AW: What are your hobbies outside of work?
JZ: I own two restaurants—Simeon’s on the Commons, and I also own the new restaurant called Bol. It’s the Asian influence ramen noodle and dumpling shop right next door to Simeon’s, so I’m often working there. My daughter plays lacrosse in college so I watch all her games online if I’m not visiting her. I also have a son here who is in eleventh grade, and I enjoy watching him play sports and taking him all around town to do activities.
AW: Are you involved with IHS outside of work? How else does it affect your life?
JZ: I don’t do as much as I want to do. When my daughter was here two years ago, she played sports all year round so I helped out like a parent liaison coordinating some snacks, carpooling, and rides until they got old enough to drive themselves. Currently my son only plays lacrosse. I’d like to more involved, but I just haven’t found where I’m going to be most beneficial. My heart wants me to run the concession stand during sporting events but I haven’t gotten there yet.
Additional Comments: I want kids to know that we offer free and reduced lunch applications. I want them to also know that the dynamics of your family could change throughout the school year, and we take those forms at any time. I mean, there could be a death, an injury, a medical condition, a divorce—any reason could cause a child to have to fill those out. I want those children to be comfortable coming in here looking for me.
The other thing is we also offer a backpack program. If kids would come and say they are hungry on the weekends, I’d give them this bag of food to help get them through the weekend. It’s maybe not the favorite or the best, but it’s something to get started. I know it can be embarrassing, but if they would tell me how to feed them with minimal invasion, it would be helpful. I want them to know that I want to meet all of their feeding needs, but they’ve got to tell me what they want.
Lastly, I’m on the school listserv (jamie.zervos@icsd.k12.ny.us). I love positive, I love negative. I don’t want them to think they can rip me to shreds on the negative, but we’re looking to change anything, so we’re open here. The only other thing I’d say is about the new lunch line. I know that has caused some havoc, but I think we’re moving towards getting more farm-to-table food. So that’s why the salad bar is out there. We are trying to put new things out every day. One new item was fresh beets, and it was amusing when students were like, “What are those things?”