A Clover Park School District story.
Custodian Appreciation Day was Oct. 2, and our CPSD Staff Spotlight this week features Carter Lake Elementary School custodian Medley Long Jr.
Medley has been on the Carter Lake team for six years after relocating from Boston. He became a school custodian when he and his daughter lived in Georgia to spend time with her. “She’s all grown up now, but how many chances do you get to see your daughter at school and be a part of her life in that way?” he said.
Medley believes that it takes many different skills to be a great custodian, but one of his greatest strengths is his comfort addressing any situation that arises to keep the school clean and safe. “I’ll do anything,” he said. “To make people happy, I’ll do anything. No questions asked, and I don’t care what it is.”
There are a lot of fun perks to being a custodian at an elementary school, but nothing beats the Carter Lake Golden Broom competition. Every week, one upstairs class and one downstairs class is awarded a golden broom if they have the tidiest class on their floor. The class that has the most golden brooms at the end school year wins an ice cream party.
“I just absolutely love doing that every Monday,” Medley said. “The kids go nuts when they win and it’s so exciting to see. It also gets them involved in cleaning and it teaches them to be more responsible when taking care of their space.”
