In addition to preparing and serving food, cleaning dishes is an important part of the work that goes on during lunch periods.

The dishwashing staff must work hard to keep up with the fast pace of dishes and eating utensils piling up on the counter. Kind gestures such as pushing plates farther towards them or simply saying thank you can make the job a lot easier and less stressful for dishwashers.  

Regina Sparkman is a food prep worker and dishwasher in the cafeteria. She enjoys her job and coming to work everyday. Sparkman said her job has been going very well since she was hired a few months ago by Simon Barrow, Taher Head Chef. Sparkman came from a temporary job at a family owned restaurant.

“Cooking is really fun for me; it’s rewarding. And the guys I work with are really pleasant,” Sparkman said.

“It doesn’t seem like work because we have such good times back there,” she added.

She also enjoys cleaning the dishes. “I love the steam that comes off the dishwasher. It feels like it is purifying my skin,” she said.

She loves to listen to music while she works.“It keeps you going,” Sparkman said. She likes listening to the Spanish music the play in the dishwashing room that Hugolino Reynoso plays on the radio, as well as the hodgepodge of music they play in the kitchen.

Sparkman enjoys the community of students and faculty here at SPA.“The kids are really polite. Every time they bring their dishes, they say thank you, and I love when they push their glasses further [to make them easier to reach],” she said.

She  has noticed a positive difference between the people being served at SPA versus at other places.

“I used to work at a family owned restaurant, and the people were not as pleasant,” Sparkman said.

Another thing she loves about SPA is the artwork made by the students. “All I can draw is stick figures and to see these kids drawing and painting so beautifully, It is truly amazing.”

Sparkman loves life at work, but outside of the cafeteria she has a life that involves a lot more than cleaning dishes and cooking. “I love to meditate and dream about the places that I want to go, like Paris,” Sparkman said. “In Paris, they’ve just got this kind of charm and it’s something different, something far away.”

Her hobbies include cooking, running and sewing.

Sparkman learned to sew at a very young age. She sometimes sells her work at festivals or keeps them for herself and her family.

“I sew African garments.“I learned [to sew] as a little girl when I took home ec in school.”

Sparkman got her inspiration to sew the garments from fashions she has noticed on others. “Minnesota is very diverse and I see people wear them as they walk around,” Sparkman said.

“I think they are very beautiful and I like the way the look on me,” she said.

Sparkman also loves spending time with her three grandkids, taking them places like the mall or the park. “ They like when I come and pick them up and we go somewhere. We have so much fun.”