Ridgetop cafeteria workers say goodbye as AISD closes the school
Maria Ponce and Hermelinda Sánchez de Loza have worked together at Ridgetop Elementary for more than 15 years. The campus is one of 10 Austin ISD schools that will not reopen next fall.
Maria Ponce and Hermelinda Sánchez de Loza have spent more than 15 years feeding Ridgetop Elementary students, learning children's names, siblings and family stories as they moved through the lunch line. Ponce arrives by 6 a.m. to prepare breakfast, while Sánchez de Loza joins by 7 a.m. for the day's meals.
Their last lunch together came as Austin ISD prepares to close Ridgetop and nine other schools before next fall. The two cafeteria workers will move to different campuses next year, ending a long partnership at a school where former students still return to visit them.