News and Updates

Yesterday, September 21, 2022, I had the opportunity to recognize another of our super custodial staff. Ashlee Walton, assistant head at Snowcrest Jr. was nominated for and received the Custodial Extra Measure Award. Ashlee has been instrumental in working hard to keep the school clean even when faced with no part-time custodians. She has also been very helpful filling in for other custodians during the day as we are short on interns.

Ashlee exemplifies what it is to sacrifice and do whatever is needed to get the job done, thanks Ashlee!

You may not know, but T.H. Bell Jr. is home to the Minutemen. The name "Minutemen" comes from the revolutionary war when elite members of the militia were called upon to defend their land. They were called "Minutemen" because they could be ready to go in a minute or less.

The spirit of the Minutemen has been playing out this summer at T.H. Bell. A week before summer began, Jason Tuveson, Head Custodian at Bell, injured his leg. This meant he has not been able to work since then. His assistant, Tressa Bertoch, stepped up to the call to lead the part-time crew as they started the summer. With assistance from Kerry Talbot, Head Custodian at Roosevelt Elementary, the crew has been able to take care of business. Dave Tuveson, Head Custodian at Wahlquist was also a great help as he was happy to sand and refinish the gym floor.

Everyone has been very willing to help and that is what makes our custodial team such a pleasure to work with. Yesterday, July 21, 2022, I had the opportunity to present Tressa, Kerry and Dave with the Custodial Extra Measure Award. Thanks to each of you for your willingness to help in times of need!

We had the Custodial Best Practices Conference 2022 on May 31. Click on the picture or the link below to get the PDF of the presentation!

Best Practices Conference 2022 presentation PDF

At the school board meeting Wednesday night, February 2, 2022, one of our great Head Custodians was recognized. Aaron Child, Head Custodian at Pioneer Elementary, received the district Extra Mile award. Aaron was instrumental in making sure new furniture at the school was assembled and installed in time for students returning from Christmas break. It was a monumental task and Aaron was more than willing to help. Aaron exemplifies what a great custodian should always focus on, providing superior service to everyone.

Congratulations Aaron Child for going the extra mile!

This afternoon, December 16, 2021, I had the privilege of visiting with one of our great high school, night custodial teams. Gavin Nicholls, Kelson Mayes and Ethan Hull at Fremont. These gentlemen were working their shift recently when a motor in the gym overheated and burned up. Their quick action minimized damage and made it possible to hold school the next day. I was happy to present the Custodial Extra Measure award to each of them.

Congratulations and thanks!

It's time to recognize another of our great Head Custodians. This morning, December 13, 2021, I had the privilege to present Rhett Chatelain, Head Custodian at Bonneville, with the Head Custodian Spotlight Award. Rhett has been the answer man at Bonneville since 2014. Before that, he was the Head Custodian at Snowcrest Jr. and started his custodial career at Bonneville as the Assistant Head in 2002.

Congratulations to Rhett and thanks for all the hard work keeping the ship upright and running smoothly.

Go Lakers!

Yesterday, December 1, 2021, we had the opportunity to recognize one of our great Custodial Interns. Sterling Walton received the Custodial Extra Measure award. Recently, while working at one of our elementary schools, Sterling noticed a young child choking on some food in the cafeteria. Sterling applied an abdominal thrust on the child and the food popped out, tragedy averted.

Thank you Sterling for going the extra measure and being in the right place at the right time!

This morning, November 22, 2021, I had the honor of presenting the Custodial Extra Measure award to Cameron Hansen. Cameron is the Assistant Head Custodian at Silver Ridge Elementary. While Cameron has only been at Silver Ridge for a short time, he has made a great impact. I received word that he is always on the move, offering great customer service to those in his school. He has taken ownership of the position and the school. This is exactly what I like to hear.

Congratulations Cameron!

This afternoon, October 4, 2021, I had the pleasure to visit with the entire custodial team at Weber High and recognize one of their own for going the "Extra Measure". General Custodian Sam Leake was the recipient of the custodial services Extra Measure award.

Sam has recently been filling in for other team members and willingly accepting additional work for the last couple of weeks. To quote Head Custodian Ron Campbell, "we kept throwing stuff at him and he just did it."

Sam is the kind of custodian that we can all learn something from. Happily do your job and willingly accept a little more to help others. Great job!

This morning, June 2nd, 2021, during our Best Practices conference, I had the opportunity to recognize another of our great custodial team. Zeniff Maldonado is a night general custodian at Weber High. This last school year, Zeniff was kind enough to assist the entire district as he was willing to fill in for absent custodians during the day when we were out of interns. This meant that many times he would work a day shift and then immediately go to his night job. His help was really appreciated as we battled increased absences due to Covid quarantines.

Congratulations and thanks to Zeniff and all who stepped up with a challenging year!

(Trust me, it's Zeniff!)

This year our best practices conference was held for all full-time custodians. For your reference, click below to view the presentation in PDF format.

Best Practices Conference 2021 - PDF

Today, May 18th, 2021, I had the opportunity to recognize one of our great Custodial Interns. Jordan Birch received the Custodial Extra Measure award for his work in one of our schools. Recently, while working at Kanesville Elementary, a teacher asked him for some help. She was working on an art project and some students did not have the necessary supplies including some wood and wire. Jordan was good enough to tear apart a pallet and locate some wire to supply the needed materials so the students could complete the project. It's good people like Jordan that remind us why we are here. Great Job!

Earlier this week (the week of May 3rd, 2021) one of our district plumbers mentioned that he had recently been at Riverdale Elementary working in the tunnels of the school. He mentioned that the tunnels were clean and all of the utility lights were working. Working in tunnels is no fun, but it's much easier when they are clean and well lit.

Head Custodian Quade Standley has gone the extra measure to clean and re-lamp the tunnels of his school. Congratulations to Quade on receiving the custodial extra measure award!

This morning, March 30, 2021, I had the opportunity to recognize another of our great Head Custodians. Amber Smith received the Head Custodian Spotlight award and leads the custodial team at Sand Ridge Jr. She is doing a nice job at keeping the school running well and representing all of us. Congratulations Amber, this day belongs to you!

This morning, February 23rd, 2021, I had the honor of recognizing another of our great custodial staff with the Custodial Extra Measure award. James Allen is the Custodian at our BDO facility which includes Tech. Services, Warehouse Services as well as the maintenance and custodial warehouse bays. It's a huge facility and James does a great job at keeping the facility clean and comfortable for all who work there.

Fun fact: James and I are the same age, we graduated from Bonneville in 19..... Somehow, he always manages to look twenty years younger than me!

Congratulations James!!!

Proper mop care has always been important but now, during a global pandemic it is critical! Before, when you finished mopping the floor, you might just rinse your mop and allow it to air dry. However, this is no longer a best practice, pandemic or not.

Here is why. We know that using a professional cleaning solution to mop floors can prove effective at removing soils. However, in a 2014 study published by microbiology researchers, concluded “the water used for mop rinsing usually becomes increasingly contaminated during this process, especially if used repeatedly without changing or if surfaces are heavily soiled and/or have not been cleaned within the previous 24 hours. The water then serves as a medium for spreading microbes around the environment.”

Last April, the CDC said Coronavirus could travel 13 feet through the air and be carried on people’s shoes. The report cited a hospital study that showed the virus can be tracked over the floor by medical staff, as indicated by the 100% rate of positivity from the floor in the pharmacy, where there were no patients.

These findings suggest that there is a chance that contaminants collected on mops can spread to different areas within the same facility, making mop care ever more important.

Steps to proper mop care

While no mop care program can 100% guarantee to be effective all the time, we must do the most we can to keep mops as clean and pathogen-free as possible. Here are a few steps we can take:

Use flat mops to do non-spill cleaning and disinfecting. String mops build up pathogens much easier than flat mops, and they can be much harder to clean and disinfect. String mops have their place, especially when cleaning up large quantities of fluid such as a spill.

Have many mop heads handy—Keep several mop heads on hand when working, change mop heads frequently. Waiting until heads “look” dirty is too late.

Launder mop heads—Both flat and string mops can be washed. Mop heads should be washed after each use. Wash in hot water with detergent, bleach is not necessary or recommended. Dry in a hot dryer without fabric softener.

Clean the mop handle—Often overlooked, the mop handle collects pathogens, too. To remove germs, clean with an all-purpose cleaner first and then again using a disinfectant, a two-step process.

Clean the bucket—Follow the same steps used to clean the mop handle.

No-mop floor cleaning alternatives

Automatic scrubbers are effective at floor cleaning and do not require the use of mops. Just remember, auto scrubbers require daily cleaning and disinfecting too! Never leave a scrubber with water in the tanks, this spreads bacteria and viruses. Daily clean and disinfect everything you can touch on a scrubber including handles/steering wheel, water tanks, pads and controls. Leave both tank lids propped open!

Cleaning professionals (YOU) are now viewed as heroes when it comes to slowing the spread of the Coronavirus and all pathogens for that matter. However, it takes more than just effective cleaning and disinfecting. It also requires making sure the tools we use are clean and healthy too. This keeps you and your school healthy.

Coronavirus cannot stop our recognitions!

This morning, January 7th, 2021, I had the pleasure to visit North Park Elementary to recognize one of our own. Landon Papageorge received the Head Custodian Spotlight Award. Landon has been the Head Custodian at N. Park since 2019 and has also worked at Fremont, Bonneville and began as a Custodial Intern. Please offer your congratulations to Landon Papageorge, one of our fantastic Head Custodians!

This morning, October 28th, 2020, I had the pleasure of presenting the Custodial Extra Measure Award to one of our own. Everardo Medrano, Head Custodian at Roy Jr. High was the recipient of this recognition. Any of you that have helped open a new school know what a challenge it can be. Add onto that, a global pandemic to try and figure out how to direct traffic and work in a school that nobody has been in before and it becomes daunting!

Everardo has worked early, late, on weekends and holidays to make sure everyone has what they need to be comfortable as they enter a new school, and all with a smile. Everardo does what all great custodians do. He takes ownership and cares for those he serves. Congratulations again!

This morning, October 22nd, 2020, I had the pleasure of presenting the Custodial Extra Measure award to someone that is not a custodian, but we are claiming her anyway! Jamie Henrie is the Purchasing Buyer at our Maintenance facility and also assists Transportation and Custodial with purchases, including items in our warehouse.

Since February, Jamie has been invaluable in helping to make sure all schools and custodians had the equipment, chemicals and PPE needed to battle the pandemic. She came to work when everyone else was at home, answered calls on weekends and late at night and helped contact distributors and manufacturers all over the country. Quite frankly, without her we would not have what is needed to help you keep our schools clean, disinfected and comfortable for everyone.

This morning, February 24th, 2020, I had the pleasure to present another of our great head custodians with the spotlight recognition. This time it is Mack DeVries - Head Custodian at Valley Elementary. Mack began his district career at Valley as a part-time custodian in 1976, took a few years off to pursue another career and then came back to the Valley in 2003. Mack is the second generation from his family to care for Valley. His dad was also Head Custodian at the old Valley school. Please offer your congratulations to Mack DeVries!

Yesterday, December 12, 2019, I had the pleasure of recognizing another of our great Head Custodians! Greg Johnson leads the custodial team at Hooper Elementary and received the Head Custodian Spotlight Award. Greg began his district career at Weber High, then to Roy High and he has been the Head Custodian at Hooper since 1997. Please offer your congratulations to Greg Johnson!

At the last Board Meeting, November 6, 2019, one of our own was recognized with the district Extra Mile Award. Carl Watkins, Head Custodian at the Weber Innovation Center, was recognized for the great work he does to keep this unique facility running smooth. Please offer your congratulations to Carl for his work and celebrate one of our own being recognized. Congratulations Carl!

This morning, October 15th, 2019, I had the privilege to visit with and recognize another one of our great Head Custodians. Tracie Bassett is the Head Custodian at Burch Creek Elementary. Tracie was in fact on her way to clean up a body fluid spill when we stopped her for a moment to recognize her before she had to continue on with her duties.

Tracie began her district career at Bonneville High in 2002 and was then promoted to Head Custodian at Club Heights Elementary and then to Burch Creek when it opened. Tracie exemplifies the great employees we are fortunate to have in our district and she works hard to see that everyone in her school is well taken care of. Please offer your congratulations to Tracie Bassett!

This morning, October 3rd, 2019, I had the pleasure to present the custodial "Extra Measure" award to Neil Carter, Head Custodian at Roy High.

I was recently notified that the state Risk Management inspector completed an inspection of Roy High and was very impressed. This was due in large part to Neil. He was organized, professional, prepared with a record of previous inspections to show progress in any areas that needed attention and knowledge about the building. The inspector was so impressed that he stopped to compliment the school Principal.

Neil is a great teacher and we can all learn from him about professionalism and preparedness.

Congratulations to Neil Carter!

On August 2nd, 2019, Shad Hansen, Head Custodian at Plain City Elementary, was nominated to receive the Custodial Extra Measure Award.

Shad and his crew went the extra mile to help move teacher supplies and equipment to Silver Ridge Elementary. Congratulations Shad and crew for your great demonstration of proper customer service!

This morning, Tuesday May 14th, 2019, I had the pleasure of recognizing another member of our district custodial team with the Extra Measure Award.

Jeff Wardleigh is one of our custodial interns and he received a plaque and Bell Janitorial measuring tape.

Among his many examples of great customer service, Jeff was reported to have been changing a school marquee in a blizzard this winter because it needed to be done. I hear that he helps the district maintenance crews by alerting them to things that need attention as he works in different schools. Jeff also has had a large number of positive reports from several different schools where he has worked this year. Great job Jeff!

This morning, February 20th, 2019, I had the pleasure to turn the spotlight towards one of our great Head Custodians. Tavanne Child, Head Custodian at Lakeview Elementary came in from the snow just long enough to receive the recognition. Tavanne was originally hired as a custodial intern and then moved to the assistant head custodian position at North Ogden Jr. before being hired in her current position at Lakeview. Please offer your congratulations to Tavanne Child, another of our great custodians taking good care of her school and its occupants!

**Special thanks to Bell Janitorial for their help with this recognition.

We recently reviewed the part-time custodian rules and have made some updates. These updates were to adjust language to make it easier to read and understand as well as to adjust for recent changes to our practices including the new time clock system. Click on the links below to get the PDF copies of these new forms.

PTCU Rules 2019 - Employee copy

PTCU Rules 2019 - School copy

When one of our own is recognized we all celebrate!

Congratulations to Brian Staples, Head Custodian at Bates Elementary. Wednesday evening (November 7, 2018) at Board Meeting Brian received the district Extra Mile Award. Brian exemplifies what a great custodian should be. Dedicated, helpful, friendly and above all customer service oriented. We appreciate Brian representing all of us as professional custodians. Please offer your congratulations to Brian Staples!

We recently had our professional development day. I hope that all that came enjoyed it and learned something as well. Thanks to those who presented!

You can click the link below to get the PDF version of the main presentation.

Professional Development Day 10-26-2018 (PDF version)

Click on the link below to get the presentation that our district legal counsel, Heidi Alder, did for us.

Custodian Professionalism (PDF version)

Angie Teasdale was awarded with the "Custodial Extra Measure" award today ( March 8, 2018) at our business meeting. Angie has been Assistant Head Custodian at Orion Jr. for 11 years and has been key in keeping the school in top condition throughout the years. Please offer your congratulations to Angie!

Jerry Folker at North Ogden Jr. is the latest recipient of our Head Custodian Spotlight Award. Jerry began his district career at Fremont High and has been in his current position since 2003. Please offer your congratulations to Jerry Folker – one of our great Head Custodians!

Curtis Owen is the recipient of our Head Custodian Spotlight Award! Curtis has been with Weber School District for 23 years. He has worked at Lomond View, Fremont High, Marlon Hills, South Ogden Jr. and is currently the Head Custodian at Valley View Elementary. Curtis is always happy to help and is a great example of providing quiet customer service – he also is ever ready with a smile and a joke! Congratulations to Curtis on receiving our Head Custodian Spotlight award!

On Wednesday, October 4th, 2017 in our school board meeting, Everardo Medrano, Head Custodian at Roy Jr. High, received the school district Extra Mile award. Everardo attended Roy Jr., was a part-time custodian at the school as well as Assistant Head Custodian. You might say Everardo IS Roy Jr.! Congratulations to Everardo Medrano - when one of us gets recognized, we all celebrate!

Carl Watkins was chosen as the first recipient of the new Rockstar Custodian award. Congratulations Carl! Among other things, he gets to have an awesome poster made of him, as seen here.

Thanks for attending the 2017 Best Practices Conference!

Hopefully you enjoyed the conference and found it informative. Follow the link below to view or download the PDF of the conference presentation if you would like to have it as reference or a training tool for review.

Best Practices Conference presentation 2017 (PDF)

Kerry Talbot is the latest recipient of the WSD Head Custodian Spotlight award.

Kerry began his career, 33 years ago, as a full-time custodian at Canyon View School. After a few months there, he was chosen as the head custodian at Roosevelt Elementary. He has been a Raptor ever since. Please offer your congratulations to Kerry Talbot, one of our great head custodians!

Jack Hodson is the January 2017 recipient of the Head Custodian Spotlight recognition.

Jack has been a custodian in our district for 40 years! He began at Roy High in 1977 as a general custodian and Asst. Head Custodian and then moved to H. Guy Child as Head Custodian. Next to Green Acres, Rocky Jr and Finally to Fremont on 2001 as Head Custodian. Jack continues to serve Fremont and our district. Next time you can please take the time to congratulate him on a great career of service to the children, teachers and parents of Weber County.

With this years Best Practices Conference that just passed, I made some minor adjustments to the restroom cleaning procedures presentation. So, thanks to a recent request, I’m posting the updated presentation for your use! Follow the link below to get a PDF version.

Daily Restroom Cleaning Procedures PDF

Thanks to all those that attended the Best Practices Conference this year! this year, we had slightly different information than last, since we are now covering the District and State required training as part of the conference. As I mentioned in the conference, below is a link to download the PDF copy of the presentation. I hope you find it valuable for both a source of information for you and a resource to better train your crew. If you would like to see the VCT training slides as individual presentations, please click hereto go to the page from our recent VCT training class.

Best Practices Conference Presentation 2015 – PDF

We recently had our yearly VCT floor training class! This year we presented the process in 4 to 6 basic steps. The change was to help make it easier to remember the process! Below you will find the power point presentations that were used along with the information sheet and a wet floor sign. We highly recommend reviewing this information with your crews before starting with your school’s floors this summer.

VCT training – deep scrub presentation

VCT training – finish application presentation

VCT training – finish strip presentation

VCT Floor Scrub – Strip Handout

WET FLOOR WAX sign

ISSA, along with the Clorox Professional Products Co. recently conducted a survey about the perception of restroom cleaning from the point of view of the cleaning professionals. As stated in the article: “These survey results underscore some of the restroom cleaning challenges that are often neglected and show that industry professionals may not understand as much as they think they do.” We all know that the cleanliness of our restrooms is an important part of a clean school, so I’ve decided to share this on the blog. The numbers shared in this survey are quite interesting and valuable as training information to make sure that our crews understand how to properly clean the restrooms in our schools.

Follow the links below to see the summary PDF of the survey!

Restroom-cleaning-survey-infographic

At our most recent Custodial Business Meeting we talked about the up coming training program that will be for all new part time hires. This training will begin this next school year and will help ensure that your new hires will be able to come in and hit the ground running so to speak. The big goal here is to have a high level of skill in our custodial staff and therefore have beautifully maintained schools. This will help us show the value of what we do to all that visit our school district. The first part of this training that we have chosen to focus on is restrooms. Below I have attached the presentation as well as the job chart that was handed out at the meeting. This is the same job chart that is in the “Resources” tab for restrooms.

Restrooms_Proper daily cleaning procedures

Restroom Specialist Job Card – Standard

We recently had a small training class on how to do a deep scrub and finish on a VCT floor and over all I think that there was some good information that came out of it. Thanks to those of you that came and participated especially those of you that have experience and came to both update yourselves as well as share what you know with the less experienced custodians. One of the best things about these training experiences is that it is a chance to work together in such a way that everyone walks away with new ideas and information. Below are the links to both the hand out that we gave out that gives a basic process run through as well as a supply list and a wet floor sign that you can print out and use.

VCT Floor Scrub – Strip

WET FLOOR WAX sign

We had our Custodial Business Meeting this morning and as part of that I shared my presentation on Professional Organization. Follow the link below to get that presentation if you’d like. It is in its original format so that you are free to use it however you may need to. Hopefully you got some good ideas from this.

Professional Organization

Here is the basic restroom cleaning presentation that was shared in the last Custodial Business meeting for any of you that would like to use it. I will be working up a more in depth version soon. For now, this would make a good reminder on a basic cleaning process for your part time crews.

Basic Daily Restroom Cleaning

Every week we have a team meeting to go over what we have going on and coming up so that we are always putting our best foot forward. The last few weeks we have had written on the bottom of our agenda the following line: “Think outside the box! Reinvent! Look at old situations with new eyes!” This is a good reminder to not be complacent and to always be trying to better ourselves.

I also recently read an article in a “Cleanfax” magazine that addressed this topic as well. In this article he wrote: “In 2005, Steve (Jobs) gave the commencement address to the graduating class of Stanford University. He concluded his comments by quoting from the back page of the final issue of the Whole Earth Catalog, a publication many of my baby boomer readers will remember. The quote from the back cover, and the advice he was giving the graduates in attendance, was to “stay hungry, stay foolish.” This simply put means don’t get to comfortable and keep alive that inner child that everyone has.

I just wanted to extend the same thought to everyone to keep reinventing yourselves. Don’t get so comfortable in your place that you stop moving forward. By looking outside the box we can continue to improve and keep our district looking great

We have a new Custodial Services Secretary! DeAnn Widdison was chosen to take care of us as Jeanine Porter retires. DeAnn has been a Secretary with the District for 14 years and is currently the Head Secretary at Lakeview Elementary. DeAnn has proven customer service skills and will make a great addition to our department. She will be taking over in mid-January.

Weber School District

Cafeteria recycling program changes 2013-14

These few changes are being made so the recycling program is even easier to manage and more self-contained. The updated program will work well in all schools and we strongly recommend that everyone participate.

• All schools will have the blue recycling cans with lids in the lunch room for the program. Both the blue can and blue lids with hole are required. Those schools with the wheeled cans in cafeterias, like the hall cans, will be changed to match all other schools. This eliminates confusion as students move to new schools.

• Cafeteria can lids will have stickers to help students know what to put in the can and what not to. The stickers will have both written instructions and pictures.

• In the Cafeteria we will be recycling empty milk and juice containers ONLY. All other items will be thrown in the trash. This is to eliminate the questions and unclear answers that come with other containers such as portion cups and plastic cutlery.

• At some point in this coming school year we will be changing to clear trash bags instead of black bags. This will make it easier for you and the recycle / waste transfer station to see that the recycling is not overly contaminated with trash. If it is contaminated, you can throw it in the trash dumpster. We will be using these new bags for both trash and recycling so we don’t have to carry two different bags in the warehouse.

The blue liquid dump bucket and colander must be washed daily. The Health Department requires this. Please consider washing all trash cans and recycle cans at least weekly. After all, they are near food and need to be clean.

The recycling program is a great service that we are offering to both help the school district, the environment, and the students. Please encourage participation but remember that it isn’t something that we are forcing on them. Every little bit helps so some is always better than none!

We just finished up our best practice conference for the year and I feel it went pretty good. I know, I was the one who did it, but with all the changes in format it was quite a bit different from years passed. This year was the first time that we had four separate days for each of the High School cones which meant smaller groups and easier question and answer opportunities, which I hope was helpful to everyone. Also, we were able to keep the time down to just about two hours which meant that you were able to get back to your school sooner, which was a popular request from years passed. If you want to look through the slides again then click on the link below to get the pdf version. Also, feel free leave a comment to this post if you have any comments about the conference over all!

Best Practices Conference 2013

Clair Widdison, life-long resident of Hooper, was named to represent Weber School District as the Classified Employee of the Year for 2013. Clair, a custodian, says that he was shocked when finding out he won because, “We have so many other really great classified employees.” Widdison has worked with the district since 2004, first at Club Heights Elementary School and now at Country View Elementary.

Melissa Copeland, principal of the school, says, “I want my school to be loving of kids. That’s how they learn. In a world of uncertainty and all the different things going on, if we can portray love and safety in our environment, they will want to be here.” Clair, who has a background as a fireman/EMT, but changed careers to be with his family more, agrees. He says, “For so many years we would go on calls of kids getting hurt and accidents, kids being abused, all this negative, so it’s nice to be here and see some positive with kids.”

Clair says his favorite part of his job is taking care of the outside of it and making sure it looks nice but also getting to spend time with some of the resource kids and help them in their day. He says he also loves watching all the students in the school grow and mature from the time they are in kindergarten until they leave sixth grade. “It’s just really fun. I don’t know quite how to word it, but I just really enjoy it. They are just really great kids.”

Mrs. Copeland, in her letter of recommendation for Clair, recalled a time when she found him doing something out of the ordinary for a custodian. “When I got up to go out to do after school walker duty, Clair was sitting in the office; listening to a 2nd grade student read his book. Now how many custodians have you seen take the time to listen, off the clock, to a student read? This is typical. He loves our kids!”

According to Mrs. Copeland, the kids give that love back to him because he talks to them in a respectful way, is a hands-on custodian and above all, is a great example. The faculty and staff love him because he takes the time to meet with each of them personally to go over all of their needs and is always on budget. He is a friend to everyone. Mrs. Copeland stresses that all of this does not just stay in Country View Elementary. “He’s not fake,” she says, “this extends into the community where he volunteers and has lots of friends and is a great example.”