Many people don’t really realize how much the custodians on our campus  do to keep the school a clean environment. Alma Garcia gives Insight staff a look into being a part of the custodial staff.

Garcia has been working the morning shift for the past 12 years. She has three children and is very proud of her kids, who she expressed as very hard working and that she is lucky to have them. 

“My kids are my treasure,” Garcia expresses.

She used to be a part of the night shift, but then switched to the morning crew and expressed how she prefers working the morning shift.

She starts her day at around 5 a.m. and clocks into work at about 6 a.m. The morning shift are the ones who take care of the outdoors, while the night shift takes care of indoors. Garcia mostly cleans the quad, track and field, and other outdoor areas around campus, but sometimes takes special requests from teachers to vacuum or clean up messes in classrooms.

“Each custodian has their own route. We check the restrooms, vandalism in the restrooms, graffiti, etc.” Garcia said. 

“Sometimes we have to blow leaves off the track, hose down the pavement, and much more before students come,” she continued.

According to Garcia, it’s a continuous cycle that ends about 2:30 p.m. 

She wished students just didn’t know the custodians as people who clean up the school, but as human beings.

 “Sometimes students can be so disrespectful, but at the end of the day we can’t do anything about it,” Garcia said. 

Garcia told us about how the pandemic didn’t affect her job. 

“When the pandemic first started we didn’t work for about two months but then we came right back to work,” Garcia said. 

She later on stated how it was okay for the custodial staff to come back since they wouldn’t work together in the same room.

According to Garcia, she, along with the rest of the custodial staff, wished they had more time to prepare for events and had more help sometimes with heavy boxes. She expressed how sometimes the boxes are too heavy for her to carry. 

“If I really can’t do it, then I’ll ask for help, but until then I figure it out,” Garcia said.

“The job I had before this one I would have to work 12 hours a day, no vacation, no sick days and the list goes on. I’m very grateful for my job right now because of the benefits and because I do have vacations, sick pay, and I work less hours and get paid more here,” Garcia said.

Custodians do many things to keep the school a clean and safe environment for the students. So next time you see any trash around campus, be considerate of the custodians and clean up after yourselves to make their jobs just a bit easier.