Custodian Joanne Frappier reflects on working at Gateway. (Photo submitted)
HUNTINGTON – When asked about the biggest improvement in her job over the past 11 years, Gateway custodian Joanne Frappier thought for a moment and then replied that, from her perspective, the new auditorium was the best part of the building program.
Frappier should know.
When she started at Gateway in 2002, concerts, plays and assemblies all took place in the ‘cafetorium’, where Frappier was assigned as custodian. “You had to clean up after three lunch shifts, then break down and move out the cafeteria tables, and then reset the space for the stage and seating,” she recalled. “And when the function ended that night, you either had to stay late to restore the cafeteria, or come in very early the next morning because it had to be ready for student breakfasts.”
The building program also gave the custodians upgraded equipment that was much more functional in getting work done to a high standard. When the renovated cafeteria opened, all of the cafeteria seating had been upgraded and was designed to be much easier to fold up, move and store. Frappier, who is now assigned to Littleville Elementary School, said that the district has also switched many of the cleaning solutions to less caustic and ‘greener’ materials.
The custodians employed by the Gateway Regional School District have demanding and, at times, thankless jobs. “It would be a little more helpful if people would wipe their feet before entering the building,” Frappier admitted. “Or even stop and pick-up a piece of paper or food wrapper.”
July and August are particularly demanding as the district’s 8 custodians work as a team to conduct deep cleaning of every classroom and office ‘from ceilings to floors’—all 270,000 square feet over three buildings of it completed on the hottest weeks of the year. “Summer can be a bear,” she said. “It is our hardest work in the hottest time.”
But there’s a lot to take pride in for Gateway’s crew. “I’ve worked some of the weekend soccer tournaments when many people are here from other school districts. I hear comment after comment about how beautiful Gateway is,” Frappier said. “It touches the heart because we all work really hard to keep things nice.”
