Keeon “KeKe” Shattuck receives standing ovation for more than 16 years of service with a smile
Keeon Allen Shattuck, the smiling face of Gideon Welles Dining Hall, logged her final day at Cheshire Academy on Wednesday, Sept. 18, enjoying flowers, a handmade card, and a standing ovation from hundreds of grateful students.
“I’m so honored by all the love everyone has shown me,” said Shattuck, who teared up when presented with her going-away gifts at Tuesday’s morning meeting.
Known as “KeKe,” Shattuck started at the dining hall in February 2008 and worked in both the front of the house and deli production before a fateful stint working for Flik at the Travelers Championship Golf Tournament. Her supervisor that day asked why such a personable employee wasn’t greeting students at the cafeteria line and offered her hours that would make that possible.
Why did specific hours matter to Shattuck? She had to fit her schedule around her classes at both Northwestern Connecticut and Middlesex community colleges, where she was studying sign language. She had hoped to become an interpreter for the court system or work in social services before life and the pandemic got in the way of those plans.
Which isn’t to say she doesn’t love what she does now. Shattuck, who has an uncanny ability to remember names, said she enjoys getting to know everyone on campus.
“I like meeting the students and staff that come through these walls,” she said. “Cheshire Academy is a community, but it becomes like friends and family.”
Speaking of family, Shattuck recently got married and is looking forward to her next assignment a little closer to Enfield home, helping to run a corporate café. So you might still see her out and about, like one local alum did recently.
“I thought she looked familiar, and I asked, ‘Did you go to Cheshire Academy?’ and she said, ‘I was Class of 2009!’” Shattuck said with a laugh. “It’s really heartwarming when people come back here after they’ve graduated and say, ‘my favorite part of the day was coming into the dining hall and seeing you.”
