From cleaning classrooms to checking boilers and water pipes, the maintenance staff of EHS has made significant impacts on the school environment. Throughout weekends and weekdays, no matter the weather conditions, maintenance staff workers like Mr. Carl Adams, Mr. Matthew Urteil, and Mr. John Yunker ‘81 work over eight hours to make sure that the school is clean and safe for students.
Yunker has been working for the EHS community for more than thirteen years. Like other maintenance staff workers of EHS, he works eight hours a day cleaning his assigned section. As a student, he graduated from Edison High School, and later, he gained knowledge on how to fix pipes and check boilers, eventually earning a boiler’s certificate. Yunker finds positivity while working as he gets to see students every day and watch them graduate. As an alumni of EHS himself, Yunker believes that there are many ways the students can help make the school cleaner.
“Students can help with my efforts by cleaning up after themselves,” says Yunker.
Adams and Urteil, two more members of the maintenance staff, have to ensure that the pipes and boilers of EHS do not break down. With their boiler’s certificate, their typical task for each day is to maintain and check the boiler, which includes the water pipes that run throughout the whole school. They also make it a daily task to check the cafeteria as well as the preschool playground.
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The maintenance staffs work the boilers of Edison High that control the temperatures of the water for the school. The boilers are located in the basement of the school, making it an area unknown to most students, and even staff.
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Located in the maintenance room, this cleaning machine help staff workers efficiently clean, mop, and vacuum surfaces all at once. This machine is most useful for the hallways and large rooms of the school, such as the cafeteria.
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“Every day is different. One day an air conditioner might need repair, but another day, something else would be checked and repaired,” said Adams.
Adams and Urteil sometimes both work as suppliers in order to make sure teachers have everything available. All aspects of the building are checked to make sure the school runs smoothly.
Most maintenance staff who work behind closed doors use strong chemicals to make sure the school is as clean as possible. Additionally, they say that students cleaning after themselves helps make their job easier and shows the respect that people have for the school. To them, it makes a great impact showing EHS values and pride.
Other than cleaning and supervising the pipes of the school building, the maintenance staff of EHS contributes out of the school by donating money that would be used to create a scholarship, help fund uniforms, and even support people who face hardships.
In the end, they hope that students can get along and be respectful to everyone because, as Adams said, “When they grow up they will realize.”
