See You at the Lovett Cafe

If you're searching for a spot on campus that reflects the best of our community, you need not look any further than Levitt's Cafe. Before you even cross through its doorway, you'll be certain something good is literally and figuratively cooking inside. Clean bagel coming in. Coast it. Butter. Cream cheese. You. Same on that. This is Living Levitt Stories from the Riverbank. I'm Jessica Sant, Chief Engagement Officer and number one cafe super fan at the Levitt School. On today's episode, you'll meet Kat Shartier, the Levitt's Cafe's head chef, and also Michael Brown and Chris Lewis, two of our cafe associates. Levitt values extend beyond our classrooms. While the cafe is obviously a place for a great meal, a strong cup of coffee or a sweet treat, it's also a central hub for community cultivation. Our learning is frequent, kindness is modeled, and genuine fun is had by all. My name is Kathleen Shartier. Everyone calls me Kat or Chef Kat. Start in 2009 as the Cafe Manager. So this is my 14th school year. Wonderful. You've been here two years longer than me, 14 years. Congratulations. Often in these episodes, we start at the beginning, my hope is by starting at the beginning that our listeners get to know the human being behind the voice on the show. And so for you, Kat, I think our listeners might be surprised to hear about your background, that it wasn't necessarily a traditional path to becoming a chef. And so I wonder if you could share a little bit about your college experience, what you majored in, I think that's highly interesting, especially for parents who have kids who might be going through the college process. And really how those experiences informed the path that you ultimately went down to become a chef. Sure. Well, I grew up in Michigan, so I went to a Division II school on the west side of the state. We call it the West Coast, the citizen of St. Gander, or the sunset side. And I studied psychology and therapeutic recreation. And while I was going to school, I worked at a four-star hotel, became a hostess, and really loved being in that industry, and worked my way up to eventually being manager. But something about looking in the kitchen every day and had such great interest, I wanted to learn about that as well. So when I moved to Atlanta, shortly after graduating from Grand Valley, I went back to school at the Art of Stovet, Atlanta. Wanted to find out what was going on in the kitchen. You wanted to find out what was going on in the kitchen. Every day, I want to know what's going on in the kitchen. Every day, every single day. And often, I'm in your kitchen looking at what you are doing, because whatever you're cooking up is always a treat. There's two things that you just said that I want to circle back to. And you referenced a division to school, and I wonder why you said that. I think I know, but I think it's worth sharing that story. And two, I wonder if you could talk about psychology and therapeutic recreation and how you might see those majors informing how you show up in a school every day. Okay. Division two, I guess, because I'm an athlete and played there, so it would let people know that, what'd you play? I said, tell them what you played. Oh, softball. I was a walk-on and then eventually got a scholarship. And so studying psychotherapeutic recreation is the initial reason why I went to that school. And because it aligns so much with psychology, I thought I'd get a double major. And I thought I'd eventually work with the elderly. They have a fondness in my heart. It's really probably the area that I would have chosen long term to go into. It's working with the elderly. To becoming a chef, you moved to Atlanta. And what was that process like for you? What does the training look like to studying and becoming a chef? Oh, God, I was so nervous. I never wanted to cook in front of somebody until I started going to school, even in school. But it was an 18 month course, consecutive, so we didn't have any time all. And I went to school at night and worked full time during the day, so that was real challenging. And while I was going to school, I worked in a kitchen, a catering kitchen. And all I did was cut fruit over and over and over again. But I got really good at it. Eventually graduated and met my future business partner at culinary school. And we opened a catering business that we had for 10 years. So that is my first job right out of culinary school was owning my own business. Yeah. The listeners for the show are current parents and prospective parents. And I think it's worth our families hearing. You clearly made a pivot, right? You started out in a four year degree program. You earned two bachelor's degrees and then you decided to take a different path. And I wonder if you could talk about really what inspired that. And if there was any anxiety about changing course after you had already invested so much time in a particular major in college. So I did an internship in therapeutic recreation in Massachusetts, a hospital for physically challenged. And I thought I would like it more. And I didn't. When I moved to Atlanta, I was going to choose one of two paths, either massage therapy or culinary school. I knew I wasn't going to stay in what I was originally studying. And culinary school got my attention. So that's where I went. Yeah, it was very, the enrollment process was a little nerve wracking because you're having to start to do that all over again. But my experience here was amazing. I went with mostly adults because I went during the evening. So that transition was easy enough. So you had your own business for 10 years and then you came here. Is that right? Yes. Was that the path? The economic hardship of 2008 kind of ran our business because we are mostly a corporate caterer. And so we had to pivot and eventually had to close the doors just because of that situation. And I came here thinking I'd be a stepping stone and someplace to heal and not have to think too much about the pressures of owning a business. And I've been here ever since. Why have you stayed 14 years later? Why have you stayed at Lovett? The people, the students, the main reason, I feel even the parents, I've started building relationships with everyone and it's like, wow, this is a great place. Even though your work is hard and challenging, but the people make it rewarding and being here for them. That often comes up in these conversations when we're talking with our guests that when we think about Lovett, we think about people. We think about the people who make Lovett what it is. And I think regardless of what our responsibility is on this campus, seems like that is a consistent refrain that we hear. You know, when I think about, you know, that I'm one of Kat's biggest fans and one of the cafes biggest fans. And you know, there's something about food to me I often say food is not just like satisfying a basic need, which it is. And it's a very important basic need. But it's also, in my opinion, art. In Kat, you are an artist and your colleagues in the cafe are also artists. Talk to me about how you guys approach preparing menus, thinking about what you're going to offer up over the years, there have been a number of fan favorites in terms of the types of meals that you provide. But when you're thinking about not just food as meeting a basic need, but also as something that is inspiring for you to prepare, what goes into that process for you? But we typically have a meeting and we welcome ideas from the staff so they take ownership of that, particularly breakfast items, things that they've seen or they eat every day on their way to work and also the lunch items. And we do little field trips when we know what the trends are. We'll look into that. But getting the whole staff on board with ideas is important. Product availability, production, we look at maybe using the same ingredients across different menus. We don't have a lot of storage so we have to think about all of that. There's a lot more than just ingredients. We don't have a stove in the cafe so we have to get creative with that as well. What have I thought about that? You don't have a stove in the cafe. Huh. So we have a place in the oven. Yeah. Like a conveyor pizza oven that is great. We use induction burners for all of our other things that we do. So there's some science in there too. Yeah. It's art and science. Yeah. I bring in magazines usually during spring break, food magazines and staff will look through those or they can even go online but I try to get the staff involved. So we're all on have some kind of input and ownership. So you try to get the staff involved but I also thank you and your team are pretty skilled at getting kids involved. And lately you have had quite a few students using the cafe as really like a learning lab. I wonder if you'd be willing to share what that partnership has looked like between you and one of our upper school teachers to share some of what's been going on. Of course. That makes our job even more fun because it's different than the day to day. We close a section of the cafe for culinary class and the classes modern globalization. The history class, we call it MoGlo. And depending on the subject that Dr. Myers is teaching, whether it's World War I, World War II, we collaborate with her on some items to make. And the students learn more about the history of that. I think the real life experience of that is helpful for making that correlation with everything. And I learned a lot from Dr. Myers will introduce the class and it's amazing. So bringing food together with that is a lot of fun. It gives us a different outlet of creativity. They were just there last week. What were they tackling last week? We did World War I. So we talked, we actually had the kids make, the students make a war cake, which was basic five ingredients and that was sent to them by the time they got the soldiers got the war cake, it's probably very hard. We did war cake and we also provided, well actually the class prior to that we made reserved meat. So we also kind of finished that project. We made corn beef. It was delicious. At ease day. So the ingredient was full circle. So we actually made a special with the corn beef that the students help care and cure for the cafe. Yep. And I got to enjoy it and it was great. I had it two days in a row. The next is a never, you have never even eaten a Ruben sandwich. So right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lots of, yeah, lots of birds killed with one stone. Yeah. And you know, not many kids are going to try sauerkraut. So they actually did. Yep. You know, one of the things that I have often been in the position to do is just because I eat so early is I will stand in the cafe at 11 a.m., which happens to be a passing period for upper school. And I watch in awe as you and your team, I mean, move mobs of students and adults through those service lines very, very quickly and efficiently. And I wonder from your point of view, is the person who's responsible for that team and the operations of the cafe, what goes into the logistical preparation that is required to manage that every day? Well, gosh, you have to think about everything based on that class schedule, what time our staff goes to lunch. We rotate based on so where all hands are on deck in between the classes. The students only have 10 minutes in between classes. So we try to have everyone on the floor ready to go. And when you're there at 11, that is the busiest break of the day. We make sure we're ready for that. We have two cashiers ready to go, sometimes three. We have people getting nice coffee, they can bagels. We sell so many bagels now. So, yeah, it's just a matter of communicating and calling out orders ahead so we can stay ahead. We usually can get everyone through in like six minutes. Yeah. That is remarkable that you get thrilled. I mean, how many people are coming through the cafe at 11 o'clock? Probably almost all of, I would say 200. Yeah, in six minutes. And having new software really helps with that. So that was part, a huge part of that, being able to get the students through. And what is also, I think, pretty remarkable is that in any given day when you're moving about 200 kids through just in that passing period, how genuinely interested your team is in extending care and thoughtfulness to every single person who comes through that line. And I mean, I watched it last week. I was just there recording some background noise for the podcast. Yeah. You know, that everyone gets a greeting, everyone gets a thank you, everyone gets, I hope you're doing having a good day and that doesn't always happen in our world. And I think what you are modeling and your team is modeling is the ability to see one another as human beings, even in the busyness of a very full day. Is that intentional or is that just a culture? Yeah. We have meetings, you know, we remind each other we're here for the student first and they don't have a lot of time. Always try to have everyone be greeted, whether they're just passing through, just because we're we wanted to be a happy place, a safe place, a fun place. So the kids have so much going on outside of the cafe with studies and projects that we really want that place to be like a haven for them. They meet them in and we're always there for them to get a drink and isn't it? But it's just more than that. This building relationships or trying to make someone have a better day just by smiling to them. If they're stressed out, just being present in people's lives in a positive way, being present in people's lives in a positive way. In a world that is often rushing, rushing, rushing isn't it nice to hear that being present in people's lives in a positive way. That's you, Kat. Well, yeah, it's it's easier for me to do that than it is opposite. So almost tearing up about it. The kids, the students are so amazing. I still have this. Thank you. No, I got from a student who was in lower school and she's now in ninth grade. I said, thank you because I saved her one her favorite flavor cookie one day. And it was a mate. I was like, oh my God, she's a she was crayon. It was a homemade card. It was I still have it in my office. I'll show it to you somebody. Yeah. That's what keeps you going every day. Mm hmm. You can make a difference in one person's day or experience at love it in a in a positive way. Yeah. I mean, I always thought of food that way and also music, which we've incorporated. Yes. Not right away in the cafe. It hasn't always been that, but both those are so important. The food, of course, is my passion and sharing food is like sharing my adventure with other people, getting people to try new things, just making someone's day by giving a sample of a new menu item we're trying out. Kids love that interaction and you know, I let the staff will will share whatever special they're making so they can interact with the students as well. Mm hmm. Michael's grandma's biscuits. He did that? And I eat it. I've told Chris and Mike that I'm only allowed to eat one of those biscuits a week because otherwise I'd eat them every single day. Those things are delicious. And Mark's lemon pound cake? Yeah. Mark's lemon pound cakes pretty good. That's actually a war cake because he sent it to his sister. Oh, nyron. Yeah. Isn't that interesting? Wow. Yeah, that is interesting. Mark is our sous chef that helps with the production side of the cafe doing menu development and also really involved in catering and the culinary classes. Mm hmm. His background is very extensive and he has done teaching or culinary classes at William Sonoma and Viking. He has that edge on that part of it. So it's a lot of fun to work with him on those projects. Mm hmm. We take turns during the culinary class. Yeah. Talk about the music in the cafe, Kat. Why is that so important to the experience of being in that space? That brings out everyone's personality to me, you know, depending on what is your favorite genre of music. Even with the staff, it's a very, I mean, a universal language. And the kids love it. They can request songs. So they get to hear what they like. Yeah. That's fun. Music is fun. Food and music together is even more fun. No, I can't get into two things in life that bring people together. Music and food. Yep. Yep. And what work can you ask for? Meredith on another episode, Meredith Kohler, head of school, referenced the heartbeat of this place that's often out on Williams Plaza. But I think really what's happening often is it's an overflow from the cafe on to Williams Plaza. That heartbeat extends well beyond just that space in that courtyard there. And I think you and your team have a lot to do with that. Yeah. Music helps people express themselves in a way that it would normally not. Like like Brown, he's always back there dancing and cooking. Yeah. And one of the other things that I think you've done a great job of doing is you've partnered with our culture and community folks to honor different heritage months and bring food into the conversation. Can you give some examples, especially to our prospective families who may not know love it as well, of some of those efforts, you know, name a couple of different heritage months and what kind of food was offered in the cafe to honor that moment in time? One of our biggest ones was last year, not this school year. We did Hispanic Heritage Month. And it was amazing. We even had a guest chef from Peru come in and do a demo. It was so much fun. I learned new ways, new recipes myself, cooking tamales with banana leaves versus the corn husks. And that was amazing. And it was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun because the students were really involved in it. It was really well planned. Let's see some of the other. I mean, I think that's our biggest one. We did also do that same year, Black History Month. We had a lot of products that we sold in the cafe or promoted. Black owned businesses. Yeah, black owned businesses from coffee to dessert. It was fun. We all learn a lot too during that time. Right. Absolutely. I mean, that's part of it, right? Of course. It's another place to do some learning in the cafe. I remember at the end of the year, too, you did Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And there was a lot of great treats in the cafe at the end of the year, too. Yeah, that was one of the best years, I think. Yeah. And looking forward to Tommy working with him with that. He's so really excited about what we can do together. Great. Bringing forward. Well, our listeners will hear from Dr. Tommy Welch also this season. He is also a guest on the podcast. Yes. So if money were no object, there were no limitations on the cafe. You could do whatever you wanted. What would the future of the cafe look like? I love it. Oh, gosh. Probably having a stove. Oh, all right. Okay. Well, hanging fruit. Oh, get cat a stove. Probably more open. An open concept. The students can see more of what we're doing and maybe learn. Or I've always had this dream of a food truck, but I think that's kind of passed. And now with having a culinary lab, like a learning kitchen, we could do more with that with other classes would be amazing. Our cafe really isn't set up for that, but having that available would be amazing. Having students help us work, that would be fun. I know that we do have one student, but having more of that. And involvement would be, and even having a little culinary skills class for the students. Especially when I'm not in the late out to college. I've been bugging about an adult version of that class. Yes, we're going to make it happen. And it's just having the appropriate space. Yeah. Yeah. So you're kind of limited on what you can do, but we try to get creative. Very creative. All right. You know this question's coming. There it is. What does living love it mean to you? Oh, living love it is, um, what do I put this in words? I guess most recently has more meaning because I feel like living love it is living authentically as a person as providing your service and being able to be who you are. Like I'm kind of fun and crazy at work. We also can be open as far as I don't know how to say this, but being open about being open the gay. Letting kids know that they're safe with us. I guess just living authentically of who you are and who you want to be. And being seen and known for all of who you are. Yeah. Yeah. And so people know they're safe. Right. With that, I feel like the cafe is a very open, safe place. I agree. And we see it every day with how kids and adults, really anybody in this community experiences the cafe. You, you all know. And that hasn't always, always been the case, but I feel like we're moving forward and making great progress with that. Yeah. And so being able to be yourself, the staff has so many personalities, cafe staff, and everyone can just be themselves. Yep. That's important. Totally. Right. Often when I talk of the beauty of this place, one of the first stops I make in those conversations is talking about the cafe and you and the other folks who make it what it is. And what you just said, Kat, I think is so true that food is a gateway to community. Food is like, to me, at the heart of how we experience one another and break bread together and spend time with one another and you facilitate that and you model it for everyone here. And so thank you to you and your team, giving so much to this place. I am so grateful to call you a friend and a colleague. And thank you for finally saying yes to being on Living Love It. Oh, thank you. I'm honored to be here. Truly. Thank you. And now a message from our sponsor. This episode of Living Love It is brought to you by Warm Cookie Wednesday. Warm Cookie Wednesday can be enjoyed each week at the Love It Cafe. Follow your nose and that wonderful Warm Cookie aroma to the Love It Cafe, located just off of Williams Plaza. Warm Cookie Wednesday is a production of the amazing cafe staff and is just the sweet treat you need to make your midweek something special. We'll see you at the cafe for Warm Cookie Wednesday. Now back to the episode. I'm Mike Brown. I've been with Love It School for a little over three years. I am a cafe food services associate. My name is Chris Lewis. I've been here since the winter of 2019, so a little over three years. I am a cafe associate as well. And I also have just picked up being a wrestling coach for the middle school. An assistant wrestling coach for the middle school. There you go. Awesome. Mike, for people who don't know Love It's how would you describe the school to those families? It's an electric environment. It's fun. It's inclusive. But it's also there's a different approach called the whole child approach where you just can't be a brainiac or an academia. You've got to know a little about about sports, about the fine arts. You've got to be worldly and international because Love It wants to produce the most successful child and put them into the world that they possibly can. Mike said it perfectly, but I did add that it's also a community. I believe a lot of people bring this up when they're asked about how the Love It community is. But it's super important and there's a reason why it's repeated so often that Love It has such a tight knit community and almost like a family. So everybody that's here, you get a sense of belonging and interconnectedness between different groups and social circles, which kind of goes toward what Mike was saying with you can't just be a one-trick pony. You can't just just be academia person or just be the athlete. We have students here and not just students but also faculty that do multiple things. For example, I started out here as a cafe guy and now I'm also doing wrestling with GAP athletics people who are doing athletics and also teaching courses in middle school and upper school. So it's a very fluid environment in that sense. Which is really kind of beautiful because when we work in a cafe, we see a cross section of the entire campus every day. So we get to blend everyone. We get ideas from people. We get to express our creativity and we also get an opportunity to light people's day when they walk into our environment. And they also can do the same for us as well when they come in. And you do that for me every single day, both of you. We love it, we love it, we love it. We love it, we love it, we love it, we love it, absolutely. Okay, so let's take that one step further. You both just described what love it is and certainly that how you see it as a true community. And Mike, you just referenced some of how you experience it here. But how does the cafe contribute to building community? What work does your team do to really foster that with students or anyone else who comes through your cafe doors every day? Well we do a lot. We do classes. We just actually just wrapped up a class that we did with Mo Glow, which is the modern global history with Hope Myers and David Brunt. We had their students come in, they were learning about, they've learned anything from fermentation to other forms of preservation like pickling for this past week. They made corn to beef and warm bread. So they learned about how we used to prepare food in a way that would allow it to last as long as possible. Without refrigeration. We also have catering that we do, so we cater for different events around campus, for faculty and for student events as well, especially with admissions. The cafe is open during admissions. We do catering events for prospective parents if they come on campus as large groups. So yeah, we do a lot. And for me, that kind of contributes to the whole child style of raising and teaching and educating a child. You don't teach them just English math, science and the arts and a little bit of athletics. You teach them how to cook for themselves. Be surprised at how many kids go to school, go on to college and don't even know how to cook a piece of chicken or something. Or scramble an egg. Scramble an egg. Absolutely. And that goes along with just the day to day stuff where we're interacting with the kids and they have to come in, purchase stuff. So obviously they get a little bit of exposure to how a retail business works instead of just following a parent into a store and they magically get stuff. So there's an element of budgeting that also kind of goes into this because the students are like, all right, I got $20 from what can I get with this? And then on top of that, just the environment that we try to create in the cafe is while inclusion and what the community theme were, especially with our music and with the food. So these two things, they're, we just bring them up a level like Chris said, with our food, we cook with love, we have an elevated mood like Chris said with our music and Chris is our cafe my sparrow. Absolutely. It's a wonderful feeling. It's a wonderful thing to offer someone a smile and a hug and some wonderful food. Because when students and faculty come in, when you think of going to a school, you're thinking of, all right, you've got homework, you've got practices, you've got this, you've got that. But then when they come into the cafe, this is a place for them to relax, to not be so focused on like the stress is all time. Some people come in to do their homework and everything. In general, we get to see the students, we get to see these, everybody that comes in as people. And so I find myself getting to know the students and getting to know the faculty. You'll see all so-and-so is having a bad day or so-and-so is having a good day. You pick up on these things and we get to know each other better. And I think that it's, that's a very unique thing that's here and not anywhere else. Mike just mentioned, Chris, that you are the cafe maestro or I was going to call you DJ. What are you trying to convey through the music that you play? Because you cover everything. You cover from like Broadway to we were just talking last week about, I don't remember her name, but the 80s singer that you have a great love for. Taylor Jane. Thank you. Tell, what are you trying to do when you are choosing the soundtrack for the day? What are you thinking about? What are you thinking about communicating to everyone who comes into the cafe? So the first thing to note is that the main playlist that I have kind of assimilated over the last three years- Cheerated. They've been influenced by everybody who's coming to the cafe. There are songs, the song suggestions that I've gotten from people from like Kat and Shire Jess who used to work here, faculty that come in to students. We have a lot of songs that are influenced by the students. And so I try to add all these different tastes that students have, that faculty have, that staff have into a playlist that accurately shows like the mood of the people that come in every day. So like you said, you could have a country song, like building wall, or a cane brown song, and then all of a sudden you have Barbara Streisand coming out. You do. You do. You do. You may have a gospel to them. You're on the way. Yep. And then Bill Withers will come in and start the morning with it's a lovely day. Just however and wherever and what we feel is appropriate at that moment. After a stated, we become attuned to the vibe of the students and the faculty. Someone walks in. They may look a little bit down. Oh, let's turn it up. Hey, Chris, play a tune when he's on it. And in seconds that person's whole atmosphere and attitude is completely and totally changed. Yep. They can't help but dance when you walk into the cafe. Most of the time you can't help but dance. One of the best things for me is when I either see people start dancing or proving or even better when I hear people singing along with the music. So Mike, obviously catering, restaurants, hospitality, food service, you could work really in a lot of different environments. Why a school? Why did you choose to work at Love It? Education is oh, so important. Mentoring. Leading those kids into their field, showing interest in them. They just brighten up. They say, wow, someone is someone outside of my parents are interested in my future. It's so, so important. Personal fact, not anything that I'm ashamed of. Otherwise had I had mentoring and that guidance the day I'd be a practicing pediatrician. So, I want to give those kids the opportunity to go forward, make a real positive impact into their lives so that they can be there are next set of leaders. So we've got to lead them and guide them in the right direction. Absolutely. Chris, you mentioned that you have taken on a new responsibility this year as a middle school assistant wrestling coach. What has that experience been like for you? Well, for one, it was refreshing in a way that I didn't expect at first when I agreed to pick up the role. I had almost forgotten how much I really enjoyed high school wrestling and just being competitive in general. I haven't, no, I went to college for music so there's, I got a little bit of competitive edge there but I haven't done anything physically competitive or being a part of physical or athletic competitive environments in a while. So it was really nice to get back into it and then I also have like a passion for teaching just in general. So it was really cool for me to get back into it. I was just like, okay, one, I've got to get back into shape, two, I've got to re-up on my wrestling knowledge and everything and then figure out where everybody is that individually and then how the program is being run to the run incredibly well by Reverend Allen and Billy Maronato with the upper school. Both of them have created an environment for the wrestling program specifically that it just makes sense of why they're so amazing and dominant each year. I had an easy job coming in working with these kids, I got to know them better and I feel like I learned more. I've learned more and become more as a person by taking on the job. We talked with Chef Cat and we talked a lot about team and there's teams all over this campus whether you're looking at different departments or faculty departments, divisions, sports teams, you guys are a part of a team. What does that mean to you? How does that group come together every day to execute? Teams, you said the word. It's all about execution. So many moving parts to making a catered meal or a breakfast buffet be successful and well prepared. That team, everyone chipping in, contributing to that in product just makes it wonderful. We remove our personalities and we put in the work and once we've done the work our personalities are reintroduced to that process and it's a beautiful thing to see people come in and enjoy the fruits of our labor. You know that they do enjoy the fruits of your labor. Those Michael biscuits. Those dang biscuits. Also, I had the part where the teamwork goes. For me, one of the most important parts is not necessarily, I'm sure the end goal is great but how we navigate issues, hiccups, when the call doesn't necessarily align properly, how do we address it, are we addressing it? Yeah. I feel like we have a very good chemistry within our team that we are addressing things, talking them out and then we're moving forward in the most efficient way possible. I think that's a sign of very well put together team. It's not just, oh, do they work well together? Is the M product amazing? I mean, that's a byproduct of how well do you work out the problems because every team has a problem. There's never been a perfect team. Nothing is perfect, right, Chris? Yeah. And the output is a byproduct of a highly functioning team. That's great. I had to make your breakfast sandwich three times this morning to get it right. You did? No, you didn't. Well, that, as I was eating it, I was thinking to myself, these are the most perfect over medium eggs I think I have ever had in my entire life. They were not runny. They were just right. Well, excellent. I'm glad to go a little extra time. Would you really cook it three times? I cooked that egg three times. And the third time I put a skillet over it contained the heat, the cheese melted. I'm so perfectly. It was so good. I was like, chef, cat, come say this. I, that is, that is unbelievable. It was amazing. But that's, that was amazing. I got to eat it. You didn't even, you didn't even get to taste it. I'm telling you, it was amazing. We cooked with love. What we do, I said earlier that we remove our personalities, but we also, we re-inject our personalities, make that work together as a team. Yeah. If I see, if I'm going to the right and there's food on the left, without left, Mike, look, we got a jumper. You did. We have what we call a pinger. You don't put food, sandwiches, whatever. And it's all come bare about. And unfortunately, the one we have doesn't have like a slide catch. So if, if you let it sit too long, it will just clap onto the counter. So that's where you're talking about what we'll be like, hey, we got a good run. I have, I have been the one that announces that to whoever is at the time. I don't remember who is standing there. I was like, there, there's a sandwich that's about to fall. Yeah. That was my sandwich, but it was somebody's sandwich and I was worried about it. Yeah. It works. The worst one is like, you've got a caprese going through. It's got to not. Yeah, it's very delicate, those caprese. The raw into you is in the middle. Like half of it looks over. It's just with the... It's kind of like, it's like motion kind of like slides all off of it. You're like, oh, oh, oh. Oh, man, that's great. You both referenced the idea of like community and inclusion specifically. And I wonder because you could just be a place where kids and adults come in and they grab their food and they go on with their day, but you're not that play. Why does that matter so much to both of you? Well, I think it's really important that everyone feel as if they're part of a group so that they don't feel as if they're on an island by themselves and alone. I actually had an opportunity one day coming down the middle corridor in the upper school. Groups of students here and there, and I just happened to walk by and out of the corner of my eye was the students sitting alone. So I made it a point to say good morning. Brightened my voice a bit, made eye contact, and I actually said good morning to this kid so that he would not feel as though he was not getting attention or he was not part of a group. So I actually made a point to say hello to that one particular child. And I think he sat up and I believe that it brightened his day. So it's important, I think, for people's self esteem and for them to be able to go forward and feel good about themselves, that they're part of a group. And you actually reminded me of a conversation that I was having with a lecture. She's in the arc, the lectures in the arc. Yes she is. And we were talking about being introverts and how we interact with other people. And a lot of people, the introverted extrovert, they'll be like Chris, Chris, is it introverted noise? No. I'm an introvert, it's just that most of the people that know me when I feel comfortable. You're an introvert? Yes. So define the word and they didn't send out a memo. So here's the thing, I have a very hard time reaching out to people in terms of new when I'm in a new environment, when I'm in around new people that I don't know. I have very hard time meeting connections with other people. So for me being my, a long time and whatnot, being within my own space, it charges my energy, right? Yeah, I get what you're saying. Yeah. So with that in mind, we were talking about how others interact with people based on whether or not they're introverted or extroverted. And I feel like when students that come, people come in and are a little bit more closed off, especially after talking with a lecturer, I've been trying to key in on trying to break that ice, if that, if you will, right? Make that connection where it's like, I'm not just the guy that catches you well. Yeah. I'm a person and I see you as a person. Yep. Well, you both know that I am often standing next to you, Chris, around 11 a.m. because that's when I eat lunch and I witness the literally hundreds of kids who come through at that hour to pick up a snack in between classes. And I see both of you and really everyone on your team, but especially you to acknowledge every single human being who crosses your path, even in the frenetic energy that is being created around you, you take a moment, you see them, you tell them to have a good day. And I see her, you feel it, I feel it every time I'm standing there with both of you. It's an intentional thing that you both do, an intentional behavior that you both demonstrate for other people. Absolutely. Absolutely. Sometimes I could get a little carried away with that too. Yeah, I know. But conversation with one person, you try to work a lot at the same time. That's what you do with me. You're usually... Honestly, if you go up here, another person comes in, oh, baby, sandwich, I got you. Yeah, I know. You get excited, you just get excited. I have one more question for both of you. What does living love it mean to you? Living love it. Number one, the environment. When you come into the front gate and you go around that curve and you come down the hill, there's this wonderful, beautiful pond with this beautiful fountain springing up. And you're in this wonderful 100 acres of wooded wonderfulness. What did wonderfulness, I love that. It's like, how can the world be any better than what we have here? I love it. The people outside of that beautiful atmosphere, the wildlife that we encounter, the people that we encounter, the things that we get to offer to each other with exchange it. I would not exchange it for anything. I would say I love it and love it. For me, living love it, it's just taking advantage of the time that you have in the present. And what I mean by that is we're surrounded by, like Mike said, an amazing environment facility that is very easy. I feel like it's very easy for a lot of people to take for granted what we have here, especially if you've been here, the model you've been here. It's very easy to forget, for example, like from my background, I went to public school. It's easy to forget that this is a very unique place that we have here. We have to take advantage of that through our work, through our connections with people, through how we interact with each other and with our team. It's very important to live every moment like that moment matters. This is not just a passing phase that we're in. Every single building block, every single piece of time that we have are building blocks to our future. Yes? That's what it is to me. It's being the best person that you can be having the best environment and creating the best environment that you can create in the moment. Absolutely. I agree. Modeling it and experiencing it at the same time. Yep. Yep. Reflecting back what you want out of someone else. Exactly. Yeah. That's beautiful. Well, I hope you both know how grateful I am to each of you for all that you do every day and how much fun and how much I look forward to walking in to that cafe. It is a wonderful reprieve from the busyness of a very, very busy day. And I am so grateful to call you both colleagues and friends. And I am so grateful that you have been on Living Love It. So thank you for taking the time to visit with us. Absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you for having us. Thanks to Cat Chartier, Michael Brown and Chris Lewis for being on Living Love It today. You can find Living Love It on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Connect with the Love It School on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. All things Love It School may be found on our school website, loveit.org. I'm Jessica Sant, and until next time, I hope you've enjoyed this story from the Riverbank. Thank you. a lot. Thank you. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day.