Change is nothing new, especially at Alliance High School. Over the past few years, an increasing number of teachers have come and gone, new systems have been implemented, and updates have been made to several of the facilities, but one change happened that is not common at Alliance High, the replacement of custodians.

Nunes is the most common face of our custodian staff. He has gone through all the updates and additions made to the school, but yet, he has managed to exceed all expectations when it came to his job.

Every custodian works hard and takes pride in their job. Max Loera, a night shift custodian, has worked here for twenty-seven years, while his wife, Rose Loera, has for eight years.

Nunes, Max, and Rose, three out of our four custodians, officially spent their last day, Friday September 30th, in our school as an employee. They have all chosen to retire, leaving the school and their positions behind them.

Mr. Clear, our school principal, has worked here at Alliance High School for three years and he says he “was very fortunate to have such a talented crew” work for him. “They will never be replaced” he added.

When asked about possible replacements for our custodians, Mr. Clear stated that there was a school meeting on the evening of October 3rd, that determined who will fill the available custodian positions.

“I have made recommendations, but the final decision is up to the board,” Mr. Clear replied. “We are adding another custodian on the day shift so, we will have two on day and two on night. We hope to have more support during the day. They (the new custodians) may have to ask for help as they might not be as confident.”

Mr. Clear was then asked if he has as high of expectations for the new custodians, as he did for Nunes, Max, and Rose.

“We lost a lot of knowledge. After thirty-seven years or even after only eight, you learn how to do anything and everything around the school. Most of the time they had any issue fixed before I even knew about it. I do not want to compare the old and new staff, but I want the new staff to attain their highest level of knowledge about their job and our school as possible. I have high expectations, but they (the new staff) will need some help and time to get use to the environment,” Stated Clear.

Any student who is enrolled here in Alliance, most likely recognizes the faces of our custodians and will miss seeing their familiar faces everyday.

“They allow us to do our job. They keep this place a safe and clean environment. Without them, students could not learn as well, and we could not run the school properly,” Mr. Clear stated.

Nunes, Max, and Rose have contributed so much to our school over the years. Our school is not the newest, but with the help of these three, plus another current employee (Ralph), our school obtains multiple compliments for its cleanliness. We should be proud and thankful for our custodians who have taken such great care of our school.

The SPUD, students, and staff of Alliance High School wish our custodians the best of luck on this new chapter!