How long have you been working here at NASH? In what ways has it changed? 

I have been here off and on about in total for 26 to 27 years. I started back in ’86, but then I became the Head Custodian at  Hosack Elementary and then at Marshall Elementary and then eventually made my way back here. The school has become a lot bigger and a lot busier. We had the renovations back in 2002 which contributed a lot of square footage. We expanded the gym the auditorium and the music suite, and we didn’t have the Bairel Center when I first started.

Describe your typical day. When do you get up and when do you get home? 

It really all depends. I get up every morning at 5:10, get dressed and feed my cat Oreo (she’s a rescue, we got her about a year ago) and then I leave around 6:10. We’ve been kind of short-handed this year because we started the year off with three fewer guys, so we have been staying back a couple of hours each night. Most of the time I get out of work around 3 or 4 o’clock, but lately it has been closer to 5 or 6.

Are there any jobs here at NASH that you do or don’t look forward to?

Recently, I have been working a lot of the sporting events, and I really enjoy that because I get to intermingle with the kids on a different level. I definitely get to know them a lot better, because during the school day, the kids are hustling and bustling and trying to get to class, so it’s nice to interact with them outside of the school. The one job that I don’t like doing is cleaning up after vandalism. Some senior pranks I actually find to be really funny, but what I don’t like is when the pranks put either me or my guys at risk or when they put the students at risk.  That upsets me and the staff a lot.

So would you say that over the years, students have gotten cleaner or messier?

I would say that it’s probably about the same. One thing I will say, though, is that ever since they put in the new lockers, it seems like the students are doing an excellent job of keeping them clean, which is nice. It’s very time-consuming for me and my guys to clean those out at the end of the year, and in the past few years the students have been doing a great job of keeping them nice and cleaning them out at the end of the year. So that’s a definite plus.

What do you like to do for fun outside of school?

As far as my hobbies go, I am a real big outdoors-man. I enjoy hunting and fishing, specifically archery-hunting, and about two years ago I  started trying to shoot competition trap, which I am finding is really humbling, but I’m learning! It’s a big learning process, and it’s really given me some perspective on my own skill level. You kind of go from being the big fish in the little pond to the little guppy in the ocean, but I am getting better. I am also very involved in the Boy Scouts of America. My son became an Eagle Scout during his senior year, but I decided to stay with it even after. I have been in scouting for about ten years now. I go on all of the camp-outs, and I drive the bus for our troop. I also sit on the Eagle Scout Board for our district, and I help approve projects for the kids. I find that to be really enjoyable. I get to meet so many wonderful kids and watch them come up with these amazing projects with their own little twists to help their community. I used to be a mechanic for the dirt track racing circuit. I worked for a guy named Butch Lambert who won a few championships at Lernerville Speedway, and so we got to go to a bunch of other racetracks. That was cool.

So when the time comes to retire, what do you see yourself doing? 

I have always thought about retiring and going down to Florida to work as a bus driver for Disney. I met a gentleman there a few years ago when a couple of the buses broke down and he pulled up  with his bus and opened the doors and said “come on, we have plenty of room!” This guy had the attitude that I love — that person who just tries to make the best out of the situation, which I think that I do — and he took a very frustrating and miserable time and made that bus ride a fun adventure. He was singing songs, cracking jokes, giving stickers to kids and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. We were crowded elbow to elbow on that bus, but he got us there. I thanked him afterwards and he told me he goes to work every day with a smile on his face and makes sure that he goes home that way. So I thought to myself after that, “Hey, I have a CDL license (because I drive the bus for Boy Scouts), why not work here at Disney? Not a bad gig! Give me a microphone, a captive audience, and a row full of stickers and I’m set!”

Last Question: Is there anything that you wish students knew about you and your job that they maybe haven’t considered? 

I’ve thought about that question, and the only thing that really came to mind is that we are here for you. Anytime I get a new employee, I try to instill that into them. The litter and the vandalism are really the only two things that bother us. If you want to throw the trash on the floor, I will pick it up because it’s my job, but I could be spending my time working on different things like improving the overall environment of the school. We only wish that the people who express their Tiger pride on the football field or on the stage or in the classroom would continue that pride by keeping the school grounds clean and beautiful.