We take our food seriously at Santa Catalina

Food plays a big part in cultures worldwide and is generally known for connecting people of different backgrounds and experiences. Catalina is known for doing the same thing through the community and food, even if you never notice. One could say Catalina has its own little culture around food. Here are some ways food plays a crucial role in Catalina life!

I personally don’t think you can talk about Catalina food without talking about birthday desks and KK desks. Birthday desks are when your friends decorate your desk with wrapping paper and bows and pile it with your favorite snacks. It is one of my favorite things about Catalina because it’s nice to know that your friends are thinking about you on your birthday and that they remember little things about you—for example, that you like to eat Oreos or you always have a bottle of Dr Pepper. Birthday desks are one way of showing that here at Catalina, food is not just something you eat; it sends a message that you care about someone and is a symbol of friendship and community.

KK desks are basically the same concept as birthday desks, except the person decorating it is unknown and may be someone you’ve never talked to before. (KK stands for Kris Kringle, which is our version of Secret Santa.) Similar to birthday desks, I love KKs because it shows that the person decorating your desk put in the effort to find out what you like. Lots of people also become friends through KKs, and it’s super fun to see!

Lunch is not only my favorite meal of the day, but it is arguably when the school serves the best food. And at Catalina, food isn’t just a meal, it’s a lifestyle. An example of a Catalina food that plays a major role in the community is lemon chicken! Lemon chicken is a long-standing tradition—long before I ever started coming here—and it’s a big deal. It’s so important that people start talking about it days before, rush from class to the Dining Room, and even buy stickers of the lemon chicken at the bookstore! A lunch food that has made a resurgence since I’ve been here is mac and cheese. Trust me when I say it is so much more than just plain, classic mac and cheese; there’s a whole bar of toppings and you can customize it however you want. It’s also a tradition to serve it at every Halloween Dinner. One day I found out I was going to miss mac and cheese day, and I had dreams about it. Seriously.

Another great aspect of Catalina culture is Community Dinner. Every Monday, all of the boarders and resident faculty wear formal attire and eat together. Sometimes, the night is themed or celebrates a different culture. For example, in February there was a Lunar New Year dinner where students helped pick the menu! The food was obviously delicious, and students performed dances, sang karaoke songs in Mandarin, and even had a dragon dance. The Lunar New Year dinner is definitely a favorite among the student body, but there have been a lot of other fun themes like Harry Potter, the Renaissance, and Barbie. It’s like it’s Halloween every Monday! But one of the coolest things about Community Dinner is that you sit with different assigned people every week. To some, of course, it may sound like a nightmare having to talk to new people every Monday, especially if you’re a little bit awkward like myself. But it can be super fun and is a great way to get to know people, make new friends with students you don’t get to see too often, and maybe even practice talking to your teachers.

You can see that food is one of the driving factors that bring us together as a community, just like in a family. Food is a way of showing someone you care for them, and I think that is one of the best things about this school. It may seem like mac and cheese or lemon chicken are just food, but there is quite literally a story behind all of it, and the best part is being able to share these really great foods with friends, meet people, and learn more about a person through their toppings. I don’t know where I would be in my Catalina journey without mac and cheese, and I hope to make many more memories to come.

(Photo: Catalina students get very excited about froyo days.)