Classified Staff - Unsung Heroes
"Classified workers are unsung heroes of Richland schools"
You might call them our unsung heroes...the classified employees who keep our schools running smoothly. They're not in classrooms teaching. Rather, they're the ones who take care of all the support functions so teachers can concentrate on teaching and students can focus on learning.
Our classified employees are literally everywhere doing everything to provide students and teachers with a top-notch learning environment. The Richland School District cannot function without them. Let's take a closer look.
Food services employees are on the job early in the morning to prepare nutritious breakfasts for 800 students. Breakfast and learning go together. Kids who eat a nutritious breakfast are ready to learn. Kitchen managers do an excellent job of planning lunches and breakfasts that meet the United States Department of Agriculture's nutrition standards. Their challenge is to serve healthy meals that appeal to young children and teenagers. That's not an easy task, but one they do very well as evidenced by the fact that over 3,500 student lunches are served every day.
Ask many students and you'll find that recess and sports are an important part of their school day. Have you ever thought about who maintains the playgrounds and gets the school district's many fields ready for games? Our groundsmen have a huge job. Mowing lawns, spraying herbicides and applying fertilizer are just the beginning. They set bee traps, prune trees, weed flower beds and remove litter. The groundsmen provide students with safe, functional play areas and well-groomed fields where community members can enjoy watching their children and grandchildren participate in athletic events.
Maintenance employees oversee the District's infrastructure. You don't often see them working on the school's electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems. But they're there working behind walls, on roofs and in utility rooms. Their expertise behind the scenes ensures that lights turn on, classroom temperatures are comfortable, computers have power and water flows out of faucets.
While maintenance workers keep the school infrastructure humming along, custodial employees disinfect and clean the surfaces that teachers and students come in contact with everyday. It's a critical job. Door knobs, toilet handles, bathroom floors, carpeting and counters are breeding grounds for bacteria. Custodians scrub, wash and vacuum these surfaces regularly. This consistent sanitizing reduces the transmission of germs. That, in turn, cuts down on the number of students and teachers missing class due to illness.
And sometimes, custodians have "other duties as assigned"...like, believe it or not, catching a skunk. Ken Miller, building foreman at Marcus Whitman Elementary School since 1975, had to do just that some years ago when employees in the nearby Special Programs building started smelling bad odors. It turned out that a skunk was living under the building. So Ken was assigned one of those other duties. He trapped the skunk and removed it.
Ken chuckles about the skunk now and had these comments about his job. "A good custodian has to be flexible in dealing with various situations that pop up during the day and easy going enough to get along with a variety of kids and adults." When asked why he still likes his job after all these years, Ken said, "It's the staff and students. They're my friends and my other family. Helping them is my number one priority."
That helpful attitude is reflected throughout our classified staff. Each one plays a key role in creating a positive learning environment for students and teachers.
You might call them our unsung heroes...the classified employees who keep our schools running smoothly. They're not in classrooms teaching. Rather, they're the ones who take care of all the support functions so teachers can concentrate on teaching and students can focus on learning.
Our classified employees are literally everywhere doing everything to provide students and teachers with a top-notch learning environment. The Richland School District cannot function without them. Let's take a closer look.
Food services employees are on the job early in the morning to prepare nutritious breakfasts for 800 students. Breakfast and learning go together. Kids who eat a nutritious breakfast are ready to learn. Kitchen managers do an excellent job of planning lunches and breakfasts that meet the United States Department of Agriculture's nutrition standards. Their challenge is to serve healthy meals that appeal to young children and teenagers. That's not an easy task, but one they do very well as evidenced by the fact that over 3,500 student lunches are served every day.
Ask many students and you'll find that recess and sports are an important part of their school day. Have you ever thought about who maintains the playgrounds and gets the school district's many fields ready for games? Our groundsmen have a huge job. Mowing lawns, spraying herbicides and applying fertilizer are just the beginning. They set bee traps, prune trees, weed flower beds and remove litter. The groundsmen provide students with safe, functional play areas and well-groomed fields where community members can enjoy watching their children and grandchildren participate in athletic events.
Maintenance employees oversee the District's infrastructure. You don't often see them working on the school's electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems. But they're there working behind walls, on roofs and in utility rooms. Their expertise behind the scenes ensures that lights turn on, classroom temperatures are comfortable, computers have power and water flows out of faucets.
While maintenance workers keep the school infrastructure humming along, custodial employees disinfect and clean the surfaces that teachers and students come in contact with everyday. It's a critical job. Door knobs, toilet handles, bathroom floors, carpeting and counters are breeding grounds for bacteria. Custodians scrub, wash and vacuum these surfaces regularly. This consistent sanitizing reduces the transmission of germs. That, in turn, cuts down on the number of students and teachers missing class due to illness.
And sometimes, custodians have "other duties as assigned"...like, believe it or not, catching a skunk. Ken Miller, building foreman at Marcus Whitman Elementary School since 1975, had to do just that some years ago when employees in the nearby Special Programs building started smelling bad odors. It turned out that a skunk was living under the building. So Ken was assigned one of those other duties. He trapped the skunk and removed it.
Ken chuckles about the skunk now and had these comments about his job. "A good custodian has to be flexible in dealing with various situations that pop up during the day and easy going enough to get along with a variety of kids and adults." When asked why he still likes his job after all these years, Ken said, "It's the staff and students. They're my friends and my other family. Helping them is my number one priority."
That helpful attitude is reflected throughout our classified staff. Each one plays a key role in creating a positive learning environment for students and teachers.
- Thousands of students arrive safely at school each day thanks to the drivers and mechanics in our transportation department.
- High school security guards patrol the grounds in an effort to make the campuses as secure as possible.
- School secretaries have to "know it all" when parents, teachers and students ask questions.
Warehousemen deliver tons of supplies and food to schools.
- Para-professionals (educational assistants) serve students in classrooms, health rooms and on playgrounds.
- Print shop staff meet the copy and printing needs of the district...producing booklets, posters, forms, newsletters and much more.