High schoolers make a lot of messes but, thanks to our custodians, Northmont is pretty clean. They work hard to make sure we have a good environment to learn in. That’s why for this month’s What It’s Like, I decided to interview the head custodian here at the high school, Mr. B.

Mr. B has been a custodian for 4 years and his favorite part of the job is making everyone happy. Which he certainly does by working 8-10 hours a day to keep our school clean!

Sadly, when I asked Mr. B what surprised him most about being a custodian he said, “I noticed how some of the maintenance of the areas is a little more difficult than I thought. Kids kinda do more than they should as far as damage.” Adding on to that, he said that the hardest part of his job is, “Cleaning up the damaged products, just, when people do a lot of vandalism, that’s the hardest part.”

His next answer actually surprised me! He mentioned that his favorite thing a student has ever done for him is they accidentally made a mess and then asked him if they could have some supplies to clean it up themselves. To him, it showed “a lot of respect.” On the opposite side, it bothers him when students “just throw stuff on the floor or whatever and then walk away” because that’s disrespectful. Although, he noted that he doesn’t mind cleaning up messes if the student can’t.

“A typical day [as a custodian] is being able to do the maintenance, the general cleaning of the rooms, the hallways, tables, uh, that’s pretty much a typical day.”

For anyone interested in becoming a custodian, the process is pretty much like any other job. “You apply for the position, then they call you for an interview, and from there they determine if you’ll be eligible, or considered, for the position…And experience does help if you have it.”

Mr. B’s final piece of advice for all the high schoolers reading this is, “Just stay positive and whatever your expectations, or wants, in the future are, just keep that mindset and go for it.”