Once 3 o’clock rolls around, the school goes quiet. The crowds clear, conversations cease and few remain. They aren’t in classes, or lecturing to the students; but they serve a different role. As they pick up trash scattered through the school, sweep the crevices of each individual hallway,  or wipe whiteboards down clean, long days turn into long nights.  

Meet Stephanie Gorris and Harry Schwer, KSD custodians. You may recognize them as the “lady with the blond hair” or the “guy who always seems to have a smile.” Gorris has worked in the district for over 7 years and Schwer for around ten months. Their work behind the scenes sets the stage for a clean and productive school environment, one that is easy to overlook.

“The most challenging part is when I get up,” Schwer said. “I wake up at 3:30 everyday, and get to school around 5 a.m. I walk through the gyms [along with] the pool [to clean], and then I walk through the rest of KHS to check the lights and [unlock] doors.”

Gorris gets to school just a little bit later, at roughly 9 a.m. Her job is to check all bathrooms in the school to make sure they’re up to par. This entails picking up toilet paper and checking for paper towels. When she’s ready for a break, she eats lunch with Ray Cano, head custodian.

Madeline Banigan, junior, said she has noticed the hard work our custodians put in throughout her years at KHS. She said that their work is not praised as much as it should be. 

“I always see the custodians constantly moving to pick up after us,” Banigan said. “I feel bad when they have to clean up after lunch. There is always food and wrappers everywhere.”

Gorris usually gets off around 5:30 p.m. most nights. Along with most people, they stick to the after school routines that work for them. 

“When I get home, I go straight to my big chair and turn on the TV,” Schwer said. “I don’t have a favorite show, but I do like to watch [whatever] police show [is on].”

Gorris described her nights after work to be pretty “chill.” Though what she does on the weekends is a different story.

“I like to go to garage sales, car shows and concerts,” Gorris said. “My favorite [artists] to see are Luke Bryan and Carrie Underwood. I have seen her in concert twice, [and each time was] amazing.”

When her favorite pop stars aren’t in town, Gorris works as a custodian for different places outside of the district, usually on the weekends. Her longest shift was around 15 hours cleaning for a local dance competition. 

“[On my weekends], my wife and I like to go out,” Schwer said. “We love to go out to eat, and sometimes dancing. She loves to dance, [specifically] at Judy’s Velvet Lounge or the casino.” 

Both custodians said that the benefits of their job seem to make up for some of the negatives. Even though they said their negatives can be quite negative. 

“The hardest part of the job is when people go out of their way to make a mess,” Schwer said. “I guarantee it’s less than 1% of kids, [but it is still aggravating].” 

Gorris said that even a small “thank you” can make her day. While she doesn’t get them often, the times that she does make it all worthwhile. 

“My favorite part of the job is the compliments we receive,” Gorris said. “I had a student yesterday give me a compliment. She said, ‘thank you for all you do,’ and it was very nice.”

Gorris and Schwer work behind the scenes of KHS. Their long days and busy nights transform our school into a clean and safe building.