LEBANON, Ind. — When Precilla Bates started serving lunch in the school cafeteria back in 2007, she never imagined she'd be here 18 years later and loving it more than ever.
"I don't have any children,” the 64-year old said. “So I'm like the grandma! I get to spoil them ... and then they go home!” she said with her trademark laugh.
Miss Precilla, as she’s affectionally called, clearly holds a special connection — serving not only lunch each day, but also plenty of hugs, jokes and care. She’s also known for her wardrobe of tutus.
“I love your tutu,” one student said as she walked through the lunch line.
“Thank you, and I love your glasses,” Miss Precilla replied.
“We just love seeing her every morning and hugging her, and she's so nice!" said Liam, a fourth-grader.
Miss Precilla began working in lunchrooms at the high school and middle school. Several years ago, she moved to Central Elementary, one of Lebanon’s smallest schools with about 300 students.
“This is a special place because it’s small. We’re a family,” Miss Precilla said.
That’s why it came as no surprise when Miss Precilla approached principal McKenzie Leckrone a few months ago with an idea. Bates was engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Wayne Bryant, and trying to figure out where to get married. That’s when it hit her: Why not hold the wedding at school?
"She said, ‘This is my home, these are my kids and I want to get married in front of them,’” Leckrone recalled. “And when someone comes to you with that, you can't say no."
What did Bryant think?
“He said he didn't mind because he’d been waiting for 17 years,” Miss Precilla recalled, getting teary-eyed. Bryant would marry her anywhere.
So after school on Friday, May 3 – with students, parents and teachers all there – Liam the fourth-grader walked Miss Precilla down the aisle just outside of the playground. Another student walked Bryant, who is blind, down the aisle to join them.
They met under a beautiful balloon arch assembled by the local parent-teacher organization.
“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” the officiant asked.
“We do,” all the students replied in unison.
"When the kids all said 'we do,' if you weren't crying before, you were then because there were a ton of kids just all looking at her in awe, and everyone began crying at that point,” Leckrone said.
Bryant says it's no wonder the kids adore her.
"I think it's her spirit,” Bryant said. “She just walks into a room and she just lights everybody up."
“Miss Precilla's the best lunch lady ever,” another student said as he gave Miss Precilla a hug.
For everyone’s favorite lunch lady who serves them each day, they were more than happy – on this special day – to serve her.
"I think (this) says that everyone matters,” Leckrone said. “No matter if you're a kindergartner, the custodian, a phenomenal lunch lady … everyone matters and is just as important, and we are a family."
So what does the future hold for Miss Precilla and Bryant?
“Well, it’s not like we can have any kids!” Miss Precilla said with her famous laugh.
That's OK. They've got plenty already.