Sweet Staff Stats

Get to know the people who keep your school running.

Photo by Stephanie Kontopanos

Name: Joel Sandersville

Position: High school lead custodian

Favorite thing about the job: “I get to see approximately 1600 students every day, Monday through Friday.”

Least favorite thing about the job: “The mess at lunch.”

Weirdest thing he’s seen while working: “Students blatantly in front of you throwing carrots, grapes, raisins, that kind of thing. Then they’ll look and see if you’re watching, and you’re right there, watching.”

What he does that people may not know about: “If they’re in athletics, they probably know: the setups. We’re there in the morning. Let’s say there’s a pep rally…if it’s rained out, it’s going to be in the gym, so we’ll have to get the bleachers out.”

Something students wouldn’t know about him: “That I love sports, and played sports when I was in high school. [I played] baseball, basketball, [and] golf.”

Advice for students: “Enjoy your time here, because it’s short and fast. You’re freshmen one day, and then it seems like the next day, you’re graduating. So enjoy the time. Make memories.”

Photo by Stephanie Kontopanos

Name: Jeff Stark

Position: “Custodian. I clean rooms, restrooms, take care of all the carpet and floors and stuff around the school.”

Why he became a custodian: “I love cleaning.”

Favorite thing about the job: “Having a crew that cares about the cleanliness of the school.”

Least favorite thing about the job: “Cleaning dirty bathrooms.”

How to make his job easier: “Pick up bottles [and pencils] off the floor.  It takes more time when you’re in a room cleaning it [when] you have to go back behind [and get] all the trash that’s laying on the floor.

What he wants to say to the students: “Thank you for being so kind and respectful to me and to our staff. We work hard in here every day to make sure that your school is healthy [and] sanitized for you to come [and] enjoy your school.”

Photo by Stephanie Kontopanos

Name: Christine Fausen

Position: Cafeteria manager

What she does in a day: “I start at 6, so I clean and I open everything up. I start with breakfast, then — see, I have to plan my day — what takes the longest to cook, what takes the longest to steam. I have to plan that so I make sure that I have lunch ready. Then we get everything ready for lunch, run lunch, do dishes, clean up and go home.”

Why she became a cafeteria manager: “I don’t think anyone plans on it. It’s one of those things that just happens. I love cooking and I love working with kids, so here I am.”

Favorite thing about the job: “The kids and my employees.”

Least favorite thing about the job: “Cleaning and dishes.”

Most interesting thing she’s seen while working: “Interesting? Honestly, the outfits. Honestly, some of the outfits that come through every day are kind of different. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

Part of her job that people may not know about: “The ordering, the paperwork every day — there’s a lot of paperwork that they all don’t know that I do.”

Something students may not know about her: “That I am from Nebraska and I’m a huge Nebraska Huskers fan.”

How to make her job easier: “Respect. A lot of them do not respect us — and that makes our job even harder. Some of you do, some of them don’t.

Something she wants to say to the students: “Just be kind to each other. Be kind to us, be kind to everyone.”

Photo by Stephanie Kontopanos

Name: Kathleen Hempley

Position: Manager In-Training

Part of her job that people may not know about: “Paperwork. the planning that we have to do to get ready for the next day.”

Why she became a manager-in-training: “I have a special needs son that was going into high school, and I wanted to be there where I could see what was going on. That was over 20 years ago.”

Favorite thing about the job: “The kids.”

Least favorite thing about the job: “Sometimes the work is really crazy.”

Most interesting thing she’s seen while working: “The way everybody dresses — the different styles.

Her favorite food on the menu: “Probably the chicken nuggets.”

Something students may not know about her: “I’ve been doing this for 20 years.”

How to make her job easier: “Listen and be respectful.”

Something she wants to say to the students: “Push for the stars. Keep going.”