By: Amulya Agrawal
Every summer 330 of Missouri’s brightest rising high school juniors attend a life-changing program known as the Missouri Scholars Academy. This experience teaches these select high schoolers about a variety of skills that are not taught in a normal school setting. One part of this program is dining at the Mark, which is Mark Twain hall’s cafeteria. Since this is one of the few locations where scholars can dine at during their camp experience, we ventured out to examine the true reality of eating here.
When we asked people regarding their feelings about the Mark, we were met with mixed reactions. Chris Allen of Northwest High School claims that “the food is alright” and that “the staff is nice.” However, he also feels that “the amount of food they give me is not enough to be full on.” He does appreciate the unlimited free fries provided by Dr. Keller, though.
Shruti Gautam of Rock Bridge High School feels similarly. She also feels that the food is alright, but it “depends on the day.” For instance, she felt that the garlic bread sticks are good, but some days “there isn’t enough seasoning.” She also acknowledges the staff as really nice and caring people, but they are not always able to meet her needs. This is primarily due to the cross-contamination that sometimes occurs when making food. She feels that more actions could be taken to meet the needs of scholars with food allergies and intolerances.
Morgan McGurk of Lee’s Summit North High School likes that the food at the Mark meets her needs and regards the staff as “iconic, especially Adela” and also thinks that the food is “amazing.” However, she points out that the lines are too long and that the spoon quantity is always lacking. Due to this, many students like her often have to resort to eating other meals that don’t require spoons.
Adela, one of the generous and caring Mark staff, says that she enjoys her job and that she loves talking to the kids. She works hard to ensure that everyone enjoys their meal.
While the Mark is a great place to find great food, there are problems that unfortunately exist. But, we know that most of these problems are inevitable and are not able to be effectively controlled by the staff. Nevertheless, we appreciate their efforts and care they give to all of the hungry scholars. While opinions on the quality of the food may be conflicting, everyone agrees that it is the wonderful personalities of the staff that makes eating at the Mark a great experience.
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