Imagine you had 2,049 students depending on you to do your job every day. All the teachers and administration look to you whenever there’s a problem as well. That is the life of one of the unsung heroes of the public school system, Ed Richards.

If there’s a problem, Richards is your man. Richards has worked for the school district in the area of Operation of Buildings — read: custodian — for four years, completing duties from opening the school to keeping the entire building in shipshape condition. He cleans teachers’ classrooms, fixes chairs, cleans the commons, and completes just about any other task you could possibly imagine around the high school. If there’s any kind of problem, you can count on Richards to be there and take care of it. “There was even a woodpecker in the cafeteria once,” Richards said, “That was an interesting day.”

“I’m always on call for everything,” Richards said. “I take care of all the problems I can and I’m the one to call people to take care of the things I can’t.”

Richards approaches his job with an unmatched level of positivity; it’s hard to find him without a smile on his face while he conducts his duties. Despite working a minimum of 2,080 hours a year for the last four years, he can be seen smiling and talking to the students, and approaching his work with motivation every day in the commons. Richards attributes his positive attitude to working with the students at WHS.

“The students there are really great. They make life interesting, and they’re very appreciative,” said Richards. “They definitely keep me young.”

Prior to working at WHS, Richards was self employed for 27 years before becoming a groundskeeper for the district, with duties including mowing lawns. That position was eliminated due to budget cuts and Richards was left with an important choice.

“I either had to move to the high school or go back to being self-employed,” said Richards. “I made the right choice. It’s nice to have a paycheck… and my wife likes it better. Every day is different and that makes the job more fun and more interesting.”