After the release of a letter to parents and guardians advising unforeseen staff shortages and therefore temporary fall closure of Ninilchik’s school cafeteria, principal Sheri Maynard was contacted the day after by an applicant who had originally applied for a volunteer position. This person was hired before the start of the 2025-26 school year that opened today, August 20th. In addition to the hiree, the school now also has several volunteers helping with the program, Maynard said.
“It was a quick thing that, you know, I was notified by food services, and they let me know, hey, we're gonna have to shut your cafeteria. And I'm like, No, I needed a solution. So I had already started working on where I was going to be able to, like, do a food pantry in the cafeteria, and then all of a sudden, the very next morning, we we got that applicant. So it just, it went off without a hitch today. It was awesome,” Maynard said.
In further comments on the first day of the school year, Maynard said, “it is such a good day. We have, we have our students back on campus. They're excited. We're excited to have them on campus.”
