Jarrett J. Krosoczka: Why lunch ladies are heroes

翻译人员: Shuai Guo 校对人员: 文进 肖

When my first children's book was published

当我的第一本儿童书

in 2001,

在2001年出版时

I returned to my old elementary school

我回到了过去读小学的学校

to talk to the students about being an author

与那里的学生们交流成为一名作家

and an illustrator,

与插画家的经历

and when I was setting up my slide projector

当我在食堂里

in the cafetorium,

布置幻灯片投影仪时

I looked across the room,

在房间的另一头

and there she was:

我看到了她

my old lunch lady.

那位熟悉的食堂大妈

She was still there at the school

她还在学校

and she was busily preparing lunches for the day.

她当时正在忙碌的准备着当天的午餐

So I approached her to say hello,

于是我靠近她并与她打招呼

and I said, "Hi, Jeannie! How are you?"

我说：“珍妮你好！最近怎么样？”

And she looked at me, and I could tell

她看到了我，我看以感觉到

that she recognized me,

她认出了我

but she couldn't quite place me, and she looked at me and she said,

但又不确定我到底是谁，然后她对我说

"Stephen Krosoczka?"

“你是史蒂芬·克洛萨卡？”

And I was amazed that she knew I was a Krosoczka,

我非常惊讶，她还记得我姓克洛萨卡

but Stephen is my uncle who is 20 years older than I am,

但史蒂芬是我舅舅的名字，他比我大20岁

and she had been his lunch lady when he was a kid.

从我舅舅那个年代开始她就在食堂工作了

And she started telling me about her grandkids,

然后她就开始跟我说她的孙子辈的事

and that blew my mind.

这让我有些惊讶

My lunch lady had grandkids,

她已经有孙子孙女了

and therefore kids,

那么她也就有孩子了

and therefore left school at the end of the day?

于是她就会在每天结束时离开学校？

I thought she lived in the cafeteria

我以为她住在食堂里

with the serving spoons.

与勺子为伴

I had never thought about any of that before.

我以前从未想过这些

Well, that chance encounter inspired my imagination,

于是乎，这次经历激发了我的想象

and I created the Lunch Lady graphic novel series,

我便创作了关于食堂大妈的系列漫画小说

a series of comics about a lunch lady

漫画讲的是一位食堂大妈

who uses her fish stick nunchucks

挥舞着鱼叉双节棍

to fight off evil cyborg substitutes,

打跑邪恶的机械人

a school bus monster, and mutant mathletes,

校车怪兽和变异的数学参赛选手

and the end of every book,

在每本书的结尾

they get the bad guy with their hairnet,

她们都会用发网罩住坏蛋

and they proclaim, "Justice is served!"

然后大声说道：“正义得到了伸张！”

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑声）（掌声）

And it's been amazing, because the series

这很神奇，因为这个系列

was so welcomed into the reading lives of children,

在孩子们的阅读生活中十分受欢迎

and they sent me the most amazing letters

并且他们给我寄了许多有意思的信件

and cards and artwork.

卡片以及画作

And I would notice as I would visit schools,

我注意到当我出访学校时

the lunch staff would be involved in the programming

食堂的员工们会以一种十分有意义的方式

in a very meaningful way.

参与到项目中

And coast to coast,

从东海岸到西海岸

all of the lunch ladies told me the same thing:

所有的食堂大妈都对我说着同样的话：

"Thank you for making a superhero in our likeness."

“感谢你把像我们这样的人塑造成了英雄”

Because the lunch lady has not been treated

因为食堂大妈在很长一段时间里

very kindly in popular culture over time.

在主流文化中并未得到友善的对待

But it meant the most to Jeannie.

但它对珍妮意义重大

When the books were first published,

当书第一次出版时

I invited her to the book launch party,

我邀请她参加新书发布的午餐派对

and in front of everyone there,

当着在场的所有人面前

everyone she had fed over the years,

这么多年来她服务了的这些人

I gave her a piece of artwork and some books.

我给她了一件艺术作品和一些书籍

And two years after this photo was taken,

在这张照片之后的两年

she passed away,

她去世了

and I attended her wake,

我参加了她的葬礼

and nothing could have prepared me for what I saw there,

我完全没有为我会看到的东西做好准备

because next to her casket was this painting,

因为紧靠着她的骨灰盒的就是那幅画

and her husband told me it meant so much to her

她丈夫告诉我这幅画对她意义重大

that I had acknowledged her hard work,

因为我见证了她的努力工作

I had validated what she did.

我见证了她的所作所为

And that inspired me to create a day

于是我想设立特别的一天

where we could recreate that feeling

在这一天里，我们可以重新感受那种

in cafeterias across the country:

在食堂里的那种感觉

School Lunch Hero Day, a day where kids

在校园食堂英雄日里，孩子们

can make creative projects for their lunch staff.

可以给他们的食堂服务人员带去惊喜

And I partnered with the School Nutrition Association,

同时，我与校园营养组织合作

and did you know that a little over 30 million kids

你们也知道大约超过三千万的孩子

participate in school lunch programs every day.

每天都参与了这个学校午餐计划

That equals up to a little over five billion lunches

着就想当于大约学校每年

made every school year.

准备50亿份午餐

And the stories of heroism go well beyond

英雄般的事迹已经远远不止

just a kid getting a few extra chicken nuggets

一个孩子在他的餐盘中

on their lunch tray.

多得到一些鸡块

There is Ms. Brenda in California,

在加利福尼亚州有一位叫布兰达的女士

who keeps a close eye on every student that comes through her line

她时刻关注排在她的队里的学生

and then reports back to the guidance counselor

如果有任何事不对劲

if anything is amiss.

她就会向指导顾问汇报

There are the lunch ladies in Kentucky

在肯塔基州的食堂大妈们

who realized that 67 percent of their students

她们意识到有67%的学生

relied on those meals every day,

每天靠她们提供的伙食维生

and they were going without food over the summer,

而夏天放假时他们就只好饿肚子

so they retrofitted a school bus

于是她们改装了一辆校车

to create a mobile feeding unit,

让校车变成了一个移动的食品站

and they traveled around the neighborhoods

她们在社区里穿行

feedings 500 kids a day during the summer.

在那个夏天她们一共帮助了500个孩子

And kids made the most amazing projects.

孩子们完成了一个最完美的项目

I knew they would.

我知道他们会的

Kids made hamburger cards

孩子们制作了汉堡包卡片

that were made out of construction paper.

卡片是用建筑用纸制作的

They took photos of their lunch lady's head

他们把食堂大妈的大头贴

and plastered it onto my cartoon lunch lady

贴在我的那本关于食堂大妈的卡通书里

and fixed that to a milk carton

并且固定到牛奶盒上

and presented them with flowers.

还用鲜花装裱

And they made their own comics,

于是他们制作出了他们自己的漫画书

starring the cartoon lunch lady

主演就是漫画中的食堂大妈

alongside their actual lunch ladies.

以及他们现实生活中的食堂大妈

And they made thank you pizzas,

他们还作了比萨以表示感谢

where every kid signed a different topping

每个孩子都在用建筑用纸做成的比萨饼上

of a construction paper pizza.

涂上了不同的配料

For me, I was so moved by the response

对我而言，我被来自食堂大妈们的反响

that came from the lunch ladies,

所感动

because one woman said to me, she said,

因为有一位女士曾对我说：

"Before this day, I felt like I was

“在今天以前，我感觉

at the end of the planet at this school.

自己在学校的一个最不起眼的小角落，

I didn't think that anyone noticed us down here."

我并不认为有谁会注意到我们”

Another woman said to me,

另一位女士则说

"You know, what I got out of this

“你知道吗，我从中认识到

is that what I do is important."

我的所作所为是重要的”

And of course what she does is important.

的确，她在做着重要的工作

What they all do is important.

她们都从事着有意义的工作

They're feeding our children every single day,

她们每天为我们的孩子提供食物

and before a child can learn,

在一个孩子能学习之前

their belly needs to be full,

他的胃需要填饱

and these women and men

而这些工作人员

are working on the front lines to create

都奋斗在创造一个富有教育的社会

an educated society.

的前线

So I hope that

因此我希望

you don't wait for School Lunch Hero Day

大家不必等到校园食堂英雄日

to say thank you to your lunch staff,

才对食堂员工表达你的谢意

and I hope that you remember

并且我希望大家能记住

how powerful a thank you can be.

一句谢谢所具有的强大力量

A thank you can change a life.

一句谢谢可以使生活发生改变

It changes the life of the person who receives it,

它改变了接受它的人的生活

and it changes the life of the person

也改变了

who expresses it.

表达它的人的生活

Thank you.

谢谢大家

(Applause)