Published: August 29, 2008 04:48 pm            

Custodians: Caretakers who labor for education and make learning possible

Some days just have a special feeling, something that sets them apart. Labor Day is one of those days. Whether it was Peter McGuire or Matthew Maguire who came up with the idea for the observance does not matter. The important thing is that it was done by Sept. 5, 1882 and remains one of the most treasured of American holidays.

Peter McGuire, a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) is said to have proclaimed that the day honored those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” Quite a statement but one recognizing a broad spectrum of activity.

Labor itself is defined as “human activity that provides the goods and services in an economy.” Who, then, can be left out of such a group? Surely we can find more to include than exclude in the United States.

Recently, our school (Tazewell High School) was featured on a local news broadcast and our principal, Keith Hovis, was one who was proud of “the look” at THS. My wife and I noticed it, too. The custodians at her school, Tazewell Middle School, are also terrific and have helped me so many times on countless basketball nights over the past 30 years.

Our high school custodial staff does such a wonderful job of making the school sparkle, despite the fact that we have a small crew to care for a huge building with more than 800 people coming and going through it every day.

Glen Riddle is the head custodian. More than 70 years old, Glen is a veteran of the “old days” when Tazewell County had schools from Tannersville to the Cove to Rivermont and over into Burke’s Garden. He never slows down, still dances at nearly every local festival when he isn’t working and is a great fan of the Collegians. Glen is always lifting, carrying, unlocking, locking back and picking up paper when all else is done.

Our good friends Martha Bowling, Linda Akers, Arlene Hager and Don Brooks keep the place looking sharp. No doubt they don’t make nearly as much money as they deserve.

Yet day after day and on into the night after we have gone home, they clean boards. They sweep floors, take out trash, and straighten desks. When lights go out, our wonderful custodians quietly replace them.

Our grass outside the school always looks good because of the “ground crew” and when the winter weather is bad our large concrete sidewalks are kept clean by the staff members. From time to time, custodians have to be called to some room or other. Often, a child has gotten sick and the messy job of clean-up has to be done. It always is — with a minimum of fuss.

My black board is one of the old-fashioned ones — I can’t get one of those “smart” types and I depend on the traditional chalk and eraser to educate with. It is always kept in perfect condition by the custodians.

Any time something I have written there looks important, however, the staff will make certain not to erase it and that has come in handy for scores of classes over the years. It is a thoughtful gesture, shows they pay attention to what is going on and that they care about their teachers.

All the teachers at our school have similar stories and we do appreciate the custodians who make life much more bearable for us.

I expect it is true at all the schools. Certainly that has been the case at the ones around here. I worked on the summer youth program for several years and visited almost every school in the county on a daily basis from late June until early August.

It reinforced something that Dr. Jack Kaufman and Dr. Parker, head of the of education department at Bluefield State College at the time, told us prospective teachers. The advice was to make good friends with the custodians at any school. We were told and it is a lesson that I have never forgotten, that no matter how important the “higher ups” at the school board, or the administrators, or the teachers think they are, without the custodians and maintenance workers, school would come to a halt in short order.

Our custodial staffs unlock the doors, turn on the lights, monitor furnaces in season, and do what is necessary to have school. They perform without complaint the very direct quality of labor Webster called “an expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory.”

On behalf of all of us who have been befriended by great custodians during our school days, here is a heart felt “thank you.”

Larry Hypes is a teacher at Tazewell High School and columnist for the Daily Telegraph.

        

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