School District Custodial Staff Honored For Service To Community

Fairfield Elementary custodians being honored with the Shiny Apple Awards are Sue Grigsby and Sean Woodson. MIRROR PHOTOS BY NANCY GAGNET
The custodial staff from Gateway Middle School includes (from left) Barb Mavis, Tami Stoma, Eric Rice and Roger Snyder. The Maumee Chamber of Commerce will honor district custodial staff with the Shiny Apple Award at the 46th annual Hometown Hero Awards Banquet. Not pictured are Betty Lewis, Julie Martin, Kevin Roberts and Benjamin Ballew.
The district custodial staff went above and beyond typical duties to keep the staff and students safe during the pandemic. Pictured are staff members from Maumee High School: Lamar Woodson, Jeff Ballew, Mariam Abdulhadi and Greg Bartell.
Every member of the district custodial staff performed extra duties during the pandemic. Pictured is the staff from Fort Miami Elementary, Lisa Maulbetsch and Gregg Balcerzak.

BY NANCY GAGNET | MIRROR REPORTER — Those who worked so hard to keep school buildings clean and disinfected during the pandemic will be honored at this year’s Hometown Hero Awards Banquet.

The Maumee school district custodial staff, all 16 of them, will receive a Shiny Apple Award at this year’s banquet. While it is unprecedented to present so many awards at once, the recognition is well deserved, said Maumee Chamber of Commerce executive director Kristin Meyer.

“The custodial staff of Maumee City Schools worked tirelessly to ensure the safety and wellness of the staff and students during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

Award recipients include Mariam Abdulhadi, Gregg Balcerzak, Jeff Ballew, Benjamin Ballew, Gregory Bartell, Sue Grigsby, Betty Lewis, Julie Martin, Lisa Maulbetsch, Barb Mavis, Kevin Roberts, Roger Snyder, Tami Stoma, Sean Woodson, Lamar Woodson and Eric Rice.

For most of 2020, extra steps were needed to keep the buildings clean, said Larry Burda, the supervisor of facilities. Every staff member stepped up to the challenge with heightened focus on surface cleaning. They also made sure particular areas, such as bathrooms and touch surfaces, were cleaned multiple times each day. Disinfectant foggers were also added to each building, requiring another step in the cleaning process, he said.

“It was just a lot more work – a lot more responsibility,” Burda said.

Throughout the pandemic, attendance was better than ever, and there were no complaints about the work that needed to be done, he added.

“They were engaged. They knew how important it was to keep the kids and the staff safe. They took it seriously, and they knew that what they were doing was making an impact,” said Burda.

The Maumee Chamber of Commerce Hometown Hero Awards Banquet, presented by Metamora State Bank, will take place on Thursday, August 26 at The Pinnacle.

For information, please call the chamber office at (419) 893-5805.

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