Custodians at St. Paul’s School are truly the unsung heroes on campus. They keep the foundation of SPS strong and largely account for the way campus buildings look on a daily basis. Custodians especially play a huge role in dorm life. Personally, I have B-block free so at the beginning of the year, I saw Ford’s custodian almost three or four times a week. After a week or so I asked my custodian what her name was. She replied saying her name was “Kim,” so naturally Kim Hilson and I have been best friends ever since. After creating a bond with Hilson over the past two terms, I have learned about her family and her travels to South Carolina. Every second spent talking to Hilson is a second I spend smiling, and that is why I was inspired to write this article.
Hilson never talks about her daily life as a custodian, but rather what she will do on her days off, like riding her motorcycle or going down to South Carolina. While the focus of our conversations is not on her work at SPS, the daily life of a custodian is not easy and requires a lot of diligence and love for St. Paul’s School.
Hilson arrives on campus at 5am. and then stays until 1:30pm. The team of twelve to thirteen custodians first tackle the academics and administrative buildings and then go on break at 8am. After their break, they clean their assigned dorm until 1:30pm. As there are only twelve or thirteen custodians, it is difficult if one custodian is sick because the work is then spread across fewer hands, adding to the time it takes to complete the assignments. While the work is tedious and hard, our custodians are a “close and cohesive group,” according to Hilson.
“I enjoy interacting with all the people, especially the students in the dorms.” says Hilson. “You guys are great,” she shares. Bonding with Hilson this year has given me new insight into how tightly knit our community is. After five years at SPS and most of her life in Concord, N.H., Hilson will be moving to South Carolina at the end of the year. It is most certainly a loss to the SPS community and especially a loss to the community of Ford. However, Hilson’s bright light will always shine at SPS and she will always be a fond face to remember when I think about my time in Ford.