Maria Perrone, FCPS director of food and nutrition services, closes her thick-rimmed black glasses and prepares for the next question in a Friday afternoon Zoom interview with an aspiring Time Magazine journalist.
The reporter turns slightly in his high-backed office chair, drums his fingers on his chin and thanks Perrone for taking the time to speak to him on a summer Friday. He showered Perrone with questions as he sat in front of a zoom background showing an image of the earth from space, giving the impression that he was broadcasting from the moon.
Ethan Zhang, 9 years old and fourth grader from Churchill Road Elementary in McLean, apologizes to Perrone for typing during their back and forth. Ethan, then a finalist in Time Magazine for Kids’ student journalism competition, chose to portray Perrone as part of the competition finals, who instruct students to find a local hero for interviews and profiles.
“During the Covid pandemic, she helped many families in need by providing more than 10 million meals to children in our county,” says Ethan. “So I found your work and leadership very newsworthy and deserved to be written by someone.”
Ethan, one of 20 finalists for student journalists in the US when he interviewed Perrone, was ultimately selected by Time for Kids as one of 10 nationwide winners whose work was to be published on the magazine’s website. His story about Perrone is now available online on the Time For Kids website.
Ethan Zhang, 9 years old and winner of Time for Kids journalists, stands in front of his house with a laptop in hand.
Ethan says his love for journalism began last year when, amid the pandemic, he launched a website that only his family and friends can view.
“I’ve written about the real world: politics, Covid, sports sometimes,” Ethan said, noting that he initially mainly used the internet as his main source of articles. “For example, when Covid started I wrote about the number of cases, what Covid was and the first online college football draft.”
Ethan confronts Perrone with serious questions about the toughest element of her job running food services for Virginia’s largest school system, especially when the pandemic forced schools to shut down face-to-face study for months.
“The biggest challenge was that you had to adjust and change something in the company every day, and you knew that every day was not going to go as planned,” Perrone tells Ethan. “Sometimes there were employees who couldn’t report to work that you thought would be there, sometimes there were challenges as the food industry was short of items that we needed for planned menus. We spent a lot of time solving problems and being prepared for anything that might not go as planned. “
Perrone says she is most proud of the work her team has done and how they performed at the most difficult times in the 15 years she worked for FCPS Food and Nutrition Services. Her department delivered food to more than 400 bus stops as well as 120 other locations at one point, she said.
“Meals were the only constant in FCPS when we closed down,” said Perrone, noting that as of March 2020, more than 14.5 million free breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners have been served to children. “These are so many difficult times unknown and the staff has never disappointed.”
Ethan wants to know when Perrone wakes up in the morning and what a typical day looks like for her: She tells him that her working day starts at 5 a.m., as some central production facilities open before 5:30 a.m. to prepare food for the day.
“Wow, so you wake up at 5 a.m., go to work at 5:30 a.m. and then spend a lot of time doing important things,” comments Ethan. Then he turns to a question that may concern many children as FCPS students are returning to face-to-face study five days a week this year.
“What’s your favorite item on the school canteen menu?” Asks Ethan. Perrone advocates salads and uses all the “fresh fruits and vegetables” she knows are available across the district every day, or the banana bread and milk for breakfast.
“I also like the delicious cheese nachos,” she admits.
