More than mop-up duty: Vital role of school janitors often is overlooked

Here’s the easiest "Family Feud" question ever asked: Name the worker in the school who is the least appreciated. Survey says … ”the janitor.”

I teach at my alma mater in Tulsa. The first thing I noticed upon my return was the cleanliness of the building. The school’s interior is cleaner than my home’s interior. If I dropped a morsel of food on the school’s floor, the 15-second rule would increase dramatically. Imagine this … a job you don’t take home at the end of the day, because it has a finite beginning and end. You transform dirty to clean. Your beneficiaries are our most valued and vulnerable members of our families.

We should all be so fortunate.

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One of my favorite shows that ever existed is "Dirty Jobs." The host, a guy named Mike Rowe, has taken on the mission of recognizing the importance of manual labor. (By the way, both of his parents were teachers.) His grandfather was a carpenter. But Granddad’s skills were not limited to working with wood. Rowe says, “Granddad could build an entire house.”

Rowe tells the story of how one day the main sewer line in the front yard burst. Dad had to go to work, but Granddad showed up and told young Mike, “Sonny … even though you're not going to school today, class is in session.” By the end of the day, Rowe’s recollection of a job well done lives fondly in his memory to this day.

Rowe goes on to question why we in America have waged war against manual labor. He believes Hollywood (that evil empire) is to blame. Manual laborers have become a punchline on TV shows.

Rowe believes one of the biggest scams in society is college debt. We’ve conditioned our kids to believe that if you don’t go to college, then you’re a failure. Ironically, THAT is a dirty shame.

Let’s face it. College is not for everyone. I’m happy to report that the tech schools in Tulsa are affordable, impressive and serve our real world’s needs.

If I could go back in time, I would tell my school janitor, Mr. Graves, how great of a job he did … how I couldn’t believe the dedication it took to clean my classmate’s barf with no complaints. He was the person who mopped the bathroom floors, too. I wish I had a dollar for every paper towel that didn’t make it into the trash can.

I've said before that if we in Oklahoma are going to improve our education system, it will take the efforts of every adult in the room — from teachers, principals, counselors, deans, nurses, those sweet office ladies, unappreciated cafeteria workers, and last but not least, those awesome, awesome janitors.

Oh … one final point. Rowe tells the story of how his high school counselor had a poster on his office wall. On the left side was a plumber, and on the right side was a dapperly dressed man in a suit. The caption below read, “Work smarter, not harder.”

I decided to adopt Mike Rowe’s mantra, which is, “Work smarter AND work harder.”

K. John Lee is in his first year of his third career as a math teacher.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Guest: School janitors play a critical role and deserve appreciation