Night shift custodians share their stories

Every night a group of 10 men and women strive to keep the hallways clean and the school spotless. Two additional staff members help out during the day. Since the night custodians work from 3 p.m. to as late as 11:30, many students don’t have the opportunity to meet and know the night shift staff.  Five of them share their stories below.

Michael Brown

The lead custodian, Michael Brown, was born in Ohio and came to Southwest after working as a custodian at Lakewood Middle School. On top of that, he’s managed and supervised in his previous job as a salesman. Through his former careers, Brown said he’s learned how to be a good listener and how to be people-oriented. Brown said these skills help him lead his crew in daily tasks.

“First I get the crew ready at three o’clock and tell them what’s going on in the building — if we’re short people, how we are going to adjust and who’s going to cover what,” Brown said. “If we have events and stuff, [we] make sure we have everything set up. [We are] just making sure that we’re doing our job so you guys can enjoy your time here.”

Outside of school, Brown spends his time riding motorcycles. He owns a Harley Davidson motorcycle and has been riding for over 30 years.

“My outside joy is motorcycle riding. So I do trips, events, things like that. Anything motorcycle involved is what I like to do. It helps me relax,” Brown said.

Working at the school since its first day, Brown said he has done a variety of tasks and recommends doing the hardest things first.

“There’s things I don’t like to do but I know I’ve got to do them, so you just have to get it out of the way,” Brown said. “Don’t do something first and get back to it later. If it’s something that needs to be done and it’s tedious, I’ll do that first thing just to get it out of the way.”

Robert Pearce

The assistant night shift custodian, Robert Pearce, covers all the floors in the building except inside the classrooms. Having 15 years of custodial experience, Pearce said he likes the day shift but likes the night shift because of the work. He was born and raised in Missouri and has also lived in Billings, Montana, and Sheridan, Wyoming.

“I lived in the base of the mountain,” Pearce said. “I worked as the road crew and I also worked at the third largest rancher in the United States driving a semi truck.”

Pearce said he likes to spend his free time in the outdoors. On top of that, Pearce said he enjoys stock cars and has a passion for racing and fishing.

“I love the outdoors and I love racing,” Pearce said. “I used to do

stock car racing and then it got too expensive, so I decided to get out of it. If it’s a nice day, I’m usually out and I’m gone fishing. Even if they’re not biting, I can sit there on the dock all day down at the lake and just enjoy myself — just being out in the fresh air — because I’m an outdoor person.”

Jonathan Hall

Custodian, Jonathan Hall, has been working as a custodian in the district for 17 years, and said he’s worked in almost every school. Hall said he is a fan of music and that it keeps him going. In addition to being a music lover, Hall is a self-taught acoustic guitar player.

“I play acoustic guitar but I haven’t played it in a while,” Hall said. “I have led worship at my church for a long time and one of my favorites is ‘Open the Eyes of My Heart.’ I’m a big fan of Chris Tomlin. I learned to play when I was 8 years old. I can’t do scales. I taught myself, but then I took lessons because I hit a wall. I listen to a lot of music — a lot of stuff on my radio — to keep me going.”

Amelowrk Yitparek

Custodian, Amelowrk Yitparek, covers the library and the senior hallway during her shift. Yitparek was born in Ethiopia and said she can speak Amharic, the official language of Ethopia. She came to the United States in 2004 when she was around 20 years old. She said she likes working the night shift and working at the school because of all of the encouragement and friendly faces.

“Southwest is new, it’s clean, and it looks good,” Yitparek said. “Teachers [and staff] are so nice. Seriously, I like being here so much, especially the senior hall. The teachers all the time encourage me and say ‘thank you.’”

Nancy Lai

Custodian, Nancy Lai, has been working at Southwest since 2011. Lai is in charge of covering the front office area, including the meeting rooms. She has lived in Kansas for 30 years but was born in Vietnam when it was split into two parts: North and South.

Northern Vietnam was under communist rule and the South was a republic. When South Vietnam fell in 1975, the whole country of Vietnam was under communist rule. As a result of the instability in her country, Lai said she left to pursue freedom and start a new life.

“I remember that last day before I left Vietnam,” Lai said. “My mom said one [thing]: ‘Honey, you sure you want to do it? Because you don’t see anything but the sky and water. That’s all.’ And then I was in the boat, under the boat, like almost a couple weeks. I went up and I saw sky and water. I was just terrified and remembered what my mom told me.”