HISD Nutrition Services employees and leaders gathered at Hobby Elementary School on Wednesday, Sept. 18, to surprise food service attendant Diane Fields in celebration of her 50th year with the District. Senior Executive Director of Nutrition Services Betti Wiggins presented Fields with a certificate of appreciation and an engraved award.

Fields’s colleagues, former and current, were happy to assemble to honor Fields, who is known to be a kind, knowledgeable, and dependable member of the Hobby Food Services team. The surprise anniversary party included a lunch and decorations in the school library, as well as a decorated cake. Fields was moved to tears when she was brought into the library to a round of applause, jokingly exclaiming, “Did y’all really have to do this?” 

No one was more complimentary of Fields than team lead Nikiatha Clark, Fields’ direct supervisor.

“She loves the kids, she has her own special babies here, and she’ll fix their plates [the way they like it],” Clark said of Fields, who she playfully calls D-Fields. “I wouldn’t trade her for anything. I tell her every day that she needs to retire, but deep down inside, I don’t want her to retire, because she’s the one that I can call if I’m sick, if we need someone, she’ll come. The kids are her number one priority.”

Fields began her career with HISD at age 23 and has worked at Hobby Elementary, Grissom Elementary, Dowling Middle School (now Lawson Middle School), and Anderson Elementary. She says it was so long ago, she doesn’t remember which school was first. But one thing is consistent, according to Fields: the work isn’t hard because she loves her kids.

“Even now, I don’t want to stop,” Fields said. “I’d rather come to work than sit at home. It’s what I love.”