CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A custodian at Fountain Primary School in Mineral County is the 2016 School Service Personnel Employee of the Year in West Virginia.
“I’m the first custodian from Mineral County to even get School Service Personnel Employee of the Year in that county and then, to get it at the state level, it is an honor that I can’t even fathom,” Kimberley Speir, a 14 year school veteran, told MetroNews.
Speir was unanimously selected for the state award out of a field of 29 nominees from county schools and worksites.
With almost 100 students, Fountain Primary in Keyser teaches students from pre-kindergarten through the 4th grade and, Speir said, she knows all of them, “By name, as soon as they get off the bus and walk in the door. They even have nicknames,” she said.
Among the students, it’s considered an honor to be one of Speir’s helpers as she works to keep the school, first built in 1948, in good shape, according to Principal Roberta Unger.
The kids, Speir said, are the best part of her job.
“If I can make a difference in one of those child’s lives, because some of them don’t have good home lives, some of them, the only love they get is when they’re at the school, if I can make a different in one of those little guy’s lives, I’m blessed,” she said.
Speir was recently in Charleston to be recognized as the 2016 School Service Personnel Employee of the Year during a meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education. The award comes with a $500 prize.
“School service personnel are the backbone of our schools,” Mike Green, board president, said in a statement. “We are proud to present this honor annually to the employees whose contributions help our students every day.”
The School Service Personnel Employee of the Year Award was created in 2010 to recognize school aides, bus drivers, cooks, custodians, maintenance workers, office workers and other school service employees.