Behind the Broom

By: Nikki Robson - Head Custodian at Donges Bay Elementary School in Mequon, Wisconsin

Imagine for a moment arriving at school and everything is pitch black, no lights in the parking lot to guide your way into the doors, no doors are open, nothing is shoveled or salted. The only lights to be seen are from the ambulance vehicles from the EMTs who are on the scene helping numerous staff and students who slipped and fell. You notice locksmiths who are trying and get into the building for some heat and relief from the below zero temperatures outside. Upon entering the building, the place is a ghost town. Throughout the night, pipes have frozen and exploded all over the building. The trash is piled up in the garbage cans, paper is blowing down the hallways, loose electrical wires are hanging from the ceiling. As you walk down the halls you can actually see your breath and think to yourself which side is warmer outside or in? What in the world is going on here? Apocalypse? Armageddon?

Nope the Head custodian took the day off.

There is a common misconception amongst many of what a head custodian actually does. Sure people know the basics of our job. We are the ones who come into work two to three hours earlier then the start of school to shovel and salt the pathways. We fix pipes that break, electrical shorts and yes even swing a mop a time or two. We are always the first to be called when someone gets sick all over the floor and the last to get a “thank you”. We are the ones you seek out when a book bag is stuck in a locker or a door needs to be unlocked because you forgot a project that is due. We are in charge of all set ups for every event that takes place from ice cream socials, special team dinners, graduation and everything in between. It is true, we make sure the halls stay clean, the trash cans are emptied, bathrooms stay fresh, and everything from pencil sharpeners to heat are working properly.

So that’s it right, I mean what else is there? There is so much more to being a custodian that I don’t even like the title because of the mistaken notions that come along with it.  If you would ask us why we love our job, unanimously we would all agree that it is the people that keep us here. We are the ones who find the kids who are being brutally bullied to the point where they would rather eat their lunch in a bathroom stall, with their tray on the tank facing the wall than to be ridiculed during lunch time. We are the ones who see the lonely, somber eyes of the seemingly lost souls on auto pilot moving about the halls, feeling as if no one cares. We would rather stop what we are doing, and strike up conversations just so that individual knows someone sees you and we care. We crack jokes and lighten moods of the students who are stressing over tests. We offer sound wisdom to those who feel as if every part of their world is at its breaking point. We offer guidance to those who have personal torment, broken families, unplanned pregnancies, abusive boyfriends, even eating disorders.

We hear the unspoken, repair the broken wings of the inhabitants of our hallways, and we are above all else caretakers of our campus and everyone that passes through its doors. We are counselors, party planners, comedians, psychologists, investors of well being, a friendly face, givers of a caring word, encouragers, cheerleaders, and masters of organizing chaos. We are more than a group of mop swinging, bathroom cleaning, and broom pushing passersby’s. We are the first responding cardiologists to the heart of the school, its people! Get to know us, and surely you will be surprised at the person behind the broom.