{"id":10520,"date":"2022-09-20T11:42:21","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T15:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=10520"},"modified":"2022-12-14T10:43:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T15:43:31","slug":"head-custodian-celebrates-40-years-of-service-at-lynnhaven-middle-where-he-was-a-student-decades-earlier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/head-custodian-celebrates-40-years-of-service-at-lynnhaven-middle-where-he-was-a-student-decades-earlier\/","title":{"rendered":"Head custodian celebrates 40 years of service at Lynnhaven Middle, where he was a student decades earlier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u2013<em>by Svetla Tomanova<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Since its opening in 1974, Lynnhaven Middle School has served its community diligently. Earlier this month, the school wrapped up its weeklong in-service training with a Pot Luck Chili Cookoff and special recognition for the school\u2019s alumni who are currently employed at the school.<\/p>\n<p>Among those being celebrated was Alfred Olds, the head custodian, who attended the inaugural class of 1974 as a student and who has been with the school for 40 years as an employee. The event was simple: There was no fanfare, no music but a lot of opportunities to learn, laugh and know one another.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Yearbook-Class-Photo-Page-40-Olds.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-10522 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Yearbook-Class-Photo-Page-40-Olds-214x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Yearbook-Class-Photo-Page-40-Olds-214x300.png 214w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Yearbook-Class-Photo-Page-40-Olds-400x560.png 400w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Yearbook-Class-Photo-Page-40-Olds.png 523w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/a>From the time Olds was a student, he had his heart set on returning to Lynnhaven, and he did it some years later. When asked how he felt when he entered the school as an employee, he said that he was engulfed by old memories and felt very much like he was going back to school. He was happy to return to his roots.<\/p>\n<p>And although he took a job with Ground Services for one year, when the head custodian opportunity opened up he did not hesitate \u2014 he headed back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am glad I came back,\u201d Olds said, \u201cbecause this is where I belong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Things have changed, Olds said. The school is bigger and keeps growing. The students carry Chromebooks not textbooks. The classrooms of today are equipped with interactive whiteboards and are constantly evolving as technological advances make their ways into our environment.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10523\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10523\" style=\"width: 221px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Olds-ran-440-relay.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10523 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Olds-ran-440-relay-221x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"221\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Olds-ran-440-relay-221x300.png 221w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Olds-ran-440-relay-400x543.png 400w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Olds-ran-440-relay.png 539w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 221px) 100vw, 221px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10523\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olds was on the track team and ran the 440 relay in 1974-75.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMr. Olds is always cheerful and ready to help whenever needed,\u201d said Dr. Dawn Kramer, school\u2019s principal. \u201cDue to the custodian shortage, he has worked double shifts almost daily for the last two years. He is truly a dedicated community member and we feel so fortunate to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Olds also shared his most vivid recollection from his student years at Lynnhaven.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I began school here we got paddled for misbehaving,\u201d said Olds, \u201cand then you went home, get paddled again for having to get paddled!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the school\u2019s character has remained the same: there is the same feeling within the school and many of the same people have remained there for many years. One of those long-tenured employees who was also recognized at the alumni event was Sarah Morrison, a sixth-grade English teacher, with 28 years at Lynnhaven.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes when I drive into the parking lot I think about how different it is from when I was a student,\u201d added Olds. \u201cI commute an hour each way, but I love the school and I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10524\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10524\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pot-Luck-3-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10524 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pot-Luck-3-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pot-Luck-3-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pot-Luck-3-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pot-Luck-3-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pot-Luck-3-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pot-Luck-3-400x533.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pot-Luck-3-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10524\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Dawn Kramer (center) pictured with Mr. Alfred Olds (left) and Mrs. Sarah Morrison (right) during the Pot Luck Chili Cookoff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And from the desire and love for his school sprang a 40-year career of public service. Olds plans to retire, one day, from Lynnhaven.<\/p>\n<p><em>Custodians keep schools clean and organized. If you are interested in a career with purpose, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vbschools.com\/employment\/apply_now\"><em>apply<\/em><\/a><em> today and join the custodial team.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2013by Svetla Tomanova &nbsp; Since its opening in 1974, Lynnhaven Middle School has served its community diligently. Earlier this month, the school wrapped up its weeklong in-service training with a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10520"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10532,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10520\/revisions\/10532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}