Everyone has words they live by.

For lead custodian Anthony Grant, the motto “love is my religion, human being is my race” guides the flow of his days.

“I have it in my meeting with my workers every day, don’t forget: we are here because of the kids,” Grant said. “So that motivates me. I really like to work with you guys.”

In the hallway, Grant can be depended on for a high five, fist bump, or even an elbow tap. To him, the job is “all about the kids”.

“Since I started having kids coming up, the way I treat them and the way they need attention, I just know that kids are special,” Grant said. “They are the future. I’m always interested to try to help.”

Even after two decades of working for the district, Grant has learned that there is no such thing as a typical day — hours can vary from 6 to 4 or 7 to 5, and he’s called for a myriad of jobs from setting up furniture to cleaning up after a school event. In every situation, Grant keeps the same “can-do attitude”.

“In my position, if you want to be successful, just be respectful and just do what you’re told, the district way, and always be respectful,” Grant said. “Listen, pay attention, observe.”

Maintaining a school of over 2700 students, employees, and staff members is no small feat for a small team of custodians. Their work, though, often goes unseen: floors get mopped while students are in class, the cafeteria tidied up between lunch and the next passing period, and classrooms are cleaned after the school day ends.

“Sometimes people will say, ‘Oh, they’re lazy, they don’t do nothing’,” Grant said. “But sometimes, they don’t see what you’ve been doing behind the scenes.”

Junior Naomi Leong said that among students, there can be stereotypes about the so-called “working class”, even if “it’s just how you make a living”. Or, as senior Jacqueline Jiang has observed, there is simply a lack of regard.

“Mostly for the rowdy school students, it’s really not respectful to the custodians, because when I leave lunch, I do tend to see a lot of dirty lunch tables,” Jiang said. “So I think that’s disrespectful to the custodians because like we’re at the age where we’re mature enough to clean up after ourselves…it would be more ideal if we put more emphasis on students cleaning up after themselves.”

Whether through luncheons or Ranger of the Week recognitions, Principal Tara Baker said that she tries to make sure everyone is equally included because everyone adds value to the school. Ultimately, Baker said that custodians should be treated just like everyone else – with kindness and respect.

“[Custodians] are part of this campus culture,” Baker said. “Just because they’re not sitting in class with you or they’re not calling you to their office for whatever reason, they are part of this campus culture.”

There are days, Grant said, where he is so tired that he has to go home. But Grant will be back the next day and the ones after that, celebrating holidays or birthdays with his team before getting back to that invisible, important work.

“I’m a people’s person,” Grant said. “I always hope and pray everybody be successful. [I do] what I can do to encourage someone [and] what I can do to teach someone about success.”

Over the years, Grant has seen thousands of faces. They leave behind the same traces, the same imprints across the heart of the school. Grant is the one tasked with preserving them.

Everyone has words they want to be remembered by.

After more than forty years as a custodian, Arthur Cox says that he always leaves off on “Mr. Cox, blessed.”

“Just blessed to be on the job, blessed to be working, and blessed with my help,” Cox said. “That’s the number one thing, the help, the strength. That’s what takes you. Sometimes I’ll come here in pain, but I still go. It’s who you are.”

Cox, who calls himself a “country boy”, said his uncles shaped him into a hard worker. At 64 years old, he works two jobs: a handyman from 5 in the morning, then a custodian until 10 in the evening. Cox compares flitting between jobs to a “costume to put on”, like a movie star moving between sets.

“Every day, you have to stay focused,” Cox said. “If you don’t understand it, that’s when most people don’t stay long, because they don’t understand [how] hard it is to keep going. You have to be strong. Even [I’ll] get weak, but I keep going.”

From growing up as a young athlete to becoming his own “corporation”, Cox is rife with lessons from choosing good friends to brushing off disrespect – and he has no intention of stopping anytime soon.

“When you sit on the lazy board and retire, that’s it for you,” Cox said. “Do you want to go out that way?…You have your destiny, which way you want to go. It ain’t going to be. Life is not easy. Life ain’t hard. It’s going the way you make it.”

Every night, after going home, Cox can’t sleep if he feels that he didn’t put his part in. Ultimately, he said he thinks that it is important to do something that brings happiness, and so he comes back to school every day ready to work.

“When you do it so long, it ain’t about the money, it’s about the kids,” Cox said. “Sometimes I come in and see the kids, it’s happy. It changed my whole life. Makes me happy. Because they, most of the time when I’ve been doing this, these are the ones that keep me here.”

The work never gets easier. But each morning, Cox wakes up blessed — yes, it is how he feels, but it is also a promise he makes to himself every new day.

Everyone has words that go unsaid. 

For custodian Maria Chernandez Jan, keeping her family together is her priority. Jan, a grandmother to three, said her day-to-day life can be difficult – tidying classrooms, vacuuming, taking out the trash, cleaning the restrooms – but she is happy in her position.

“I do my best everyday, try to make my work good, and help anybody, no matter what the situation [is],” Jan said. “I’m here for everybody.”

AP US History teacher Kelsey Bates sees Jan every day. At faculty meetings, Bates said that teachers always have compliments to pay the custodial staff – in Bates’ words, they are the “backbone” of the school. 

“[Jan] comes to my classroom to clean my room and she empties the trash and does the boards really nice if I need it, then cleans up and so I usually talk to her,” Bates said. “Some days I’ve sat down and talked to her for several minutes because we just kind of start talking about when she works and how it’s doing and how’s her day going and things like that.”

US History and Special Topics teacher Tara McMartin said it’s important to just “[be] a human being”. McMartin leaves candy out for the custodians and jokes that they should have a throne and a parade every year, as well as a big raise.

“I don’t think anybody could give enough respect to the custodians and the help staff here,” McMartin said. “They do so much for us. I do think as a school climate we are very respectful, for the most part, to the custodians and so on. But, of course, we could always show our respect more.”

That sense of mutual respect is something custodian Billy Brown said should be extended toward teachers as well. 

“Just keep up your grades and be more understanding with the teachers,” Brown said.

In Brown’s words, it is always a good day to come to work – “no stress, no worries, no nothing”. His unspoken words, like Jan’s, are the family waiting for him after every good, working day.

Everyone has words that they want to pass on.

Custodian Javier Hernandez, who has worked at Clements since 1985, suffered a heart attack earlier this year. He will retire in May. Ultimately, Hernandez said he simply hopes that students will study so they can advance farther in life. 

In a profession whose workers are expected to say very little, the words they keep close are chosen carefully. Every motto, mantra, unspoken word, outspoken wish, and piece of advice matters.