Students Give Lunch Lady Car They Restored in Auto Shop Class

California high school students who restored a car in their automotive class gave the refurbished vehicle to someone they couldn’t imagine a day without — their lunch lady.

"Thank you all so much, thank you all so much," Debra Davis, a cafeteria worker at Hoover High School said as she spotted the car. "I'm looking for my reward in heaven and you all gave me a little bit here on earth."

Davis, known as "Aunt Debbie" to the students, told KFMB she has a strong relationship with the teens.

"I feed the kids, I prepare the food, I talk to them, I stop them from fighting," Davis said. "They don't cuss. They have to respect, and they call me 'Aunt Debbie.'"

When students at the auto body technician program learned she was driving a 1976 Chevy Malibu to school every morning, and even across San Diego County on weekends to volunteer at nursing homes and serve meals to the homeless, they decided their year-end project — refurbishing a Mazda — would be the perfect way to thank their beloved “Aunt Debbie.”

"Debbie comes to campus every single day with a smile on her face, ready to take on the day and serve our students," Principal Jason Babineau said. "So, to see this gift that so many people have been a part of in making it happen is a wonderful thing."

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