Indus school custodian is a finalist in a North American competition.
Judy Preete is the custodian at Indus School, just east of Calgary and is also one of 12 finalists from schools all over Canada and the United States for the annual Custodians Are Key competition hosted by Tennant Company.
It's an eight-month long recognition campaign that rewards the great work K-12 custodians are doing and honors them and their school with a nearly $20,000 CAD ($15,000 USD) prize package.
"You know, I get lots of thank yous in my school," she said. "But never have I been recognized."
Preete is known as Coach to all the staff and students because when she started in 2005 she was needed to supervise the school's sports teams over the lunch hour. She isn't doing that any more but the name stuck.
"Some of the (students) say oh Coach, you're the best teacher ever," she said. "And I tell them I'm not a teacher I'm the janitor, but I like to think I'm teaching them something, some respect and looking after your building and your classmates."
BUILDING CONNECTION
Kim Hart is the school's learning support teacher who nominated Preete. Hart had to write why her school's custodian should be considered for the award and told the judges Preete builds connections with individual students and develops relationships, earning their trust.
She wrote, 'Preete goes even further by organizing celebrations of success on her own time and with her own money, decorating the school for holidays and special occasions, baking and cooking for the staff, and purchasing books at the book fair for students who otherwise would not be able to do so.'
"She's just a very integral part of our caring community and supporting kids wherever they are with whatever they need," said Hart. "There's lots of unsung heroes in this school that I make sure I acknowledge, but she's somebody that I feel truly deserves this kind of acknowledgement for sure."
Preete has a candy drawer that she shares with students who need a little emotional pick-up if they're having a bad day or if they do something that helps make her job easier.
"She's always been an inspiration since I came here," said Morgan Tanner, grade nine student. "She's always helped me out, she's gave us a lot of food for helping her out, it's just been really good."
PRIDE ABOUT INDUS
'She like encouraged us to have pride about Indus," said Abby Gosling, grade nine student. "Every time I see her I just want to smile."
Grade four student Jack Kearns said "She is really good to you, if you help her out she gives you treats so I think she really deserves this award."
Tennant Company was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It's a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of solutions that help create a cleaner, safer and healthier world. It started the competition in 2019 and this year had 1,400 nominations.
Preete receives a $665 CAD ($500 USD) gift card for being a finalist and the winner will be announced in May who gets a prize package worth $6658 CAD ($5,000 USD) and their school receives $13,317.50 CAD ($10,000 USD).
Preete is always the first one at school to make sure it's clean when the students and staff arrive and says she'll keep doing what she does best for a few more years until retirement.
"If a kid needs a hug and I'm the one they see, we come in (my office), we have a talk and a treat," she said. "After an hour when they're back in their class, they're laughing and they're engaging, to me I've made a difference in somebody."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.