When Silvia Fields started working as a custodian at the new Henry W. Longfellow Career Exploration Academy 14 years ago, the work was a lot different than it is now.
“It’s a much larger building, of course,” she said of the school that opened this fall. “But all operations now are computerized and work off of touch screens. There has been a lot of training to learn how to operate the school.”
Roles of custodians like Fields in schools across the district are expanding and adjusting to new technologies for air conditioning, heating, mechanical rooms, and other essential operations that keep the school running day-to-day.
At the same time, they continue to be in charge of making sure hallways and classrooms are clean and sanitized and that the school has a safe and welcoming environment.
“It’s a learning process and it has its challenges, but in some ways it’s easier than the old building because it was falling apart,” she said.
Fields, who manages a staff of three divided into day and evening shifts, does more than that.
“We play a role in student success,” she said. “We are there for students because we have a lot of interaction with them. If they need help with something, we help. Especially now, they ask for help finding where to go, so we show them around.”
Because custodians also work when the school holds parent events, they are a resource for parents and the parent organizations. And they work closely with other school team members to make sure that their needs are met, cleaning spills, moving furniture, opening doors, etc.
“I tell other custodians that they need to keep learning new things and taking on challenges so they can move up,” she said. “This job offers big opportunities and has its benefits if you take advantage of them.”
