Walking into the Vineyard Ranch Elementary School cafeteria, you cannot miss the 8-foot golden spoon hanging near the lunch lines. And just below that sizeable silverware, you may also notice custodians Emilio Keffer and Linda Escobedo.
Both are smiling.
Both are watching.
Both are ready to make a difference.
They answered the call when school staff wanted to figure out how to motivate their students to use good manners and not be too loud at lunch.
An empty refrigerator box magically showed up outside their custodial office. So, they turned that massive box into a massive golden spoon. And that massive spoon turned into a massive motivator.
“The kids get really excited about it. I love hearing them talk about it in the hallways,” said Escobedo. “So, we help the cafeteria aides award golden spoon trophies to tables who are doing a good job of staying seated on their pockets, talking in a regular voice and using nice manners.”
Those trophies were also created and painted by this dynamic duo. In fact, Keffer is so “all-in” on this golden spoon idea he even has a pair of golden sneakers!
You should see how the students light up when the trophy is put on their table and how they interact with these two very special custodians.
“All of this makes us feel like a family,” said Keffer. “We like dressing up and getting excited with the kids. It motivates them and motivates us.”
Escobedo added, “We don’t see this as our job. We see this as something fun to do. We are not just custodians. We are more. This is my first job in 36 years after being a housewife, and I love it.”
Thank you, Linda and Emilio for supporting our students #theNEISDway
