Ms. Lalita, a custodian with a kind heart at Woodbridge Middle School, walked through the doors of WMS last year and has made a positive impact.

People often take custodians for granted. People leave messes of food after lunch, throw trash on the floor, and don’t clean up after themselves. In this article, I’m going to introduce a kind, caring, and thoughtful custodian named Ms. Lalita who strives to make WMS a better place to go to school.

It wasn’t easy transitioning to a middle school environment. She said, “Well, at first, I was scared—I won’t lie. I worked with little children, I’ve never worked with teenagers, I’ve worked with the older kids. It took me about two weeks to adjust, but now I look forward every day to come into work and seeing familiar faces.”

When asked what the most memorable thing she found while working at WMS, Ms. Lalita didn’t mention an object; she mentioned the community instead, “I love building the relationships with students and the staff and authority. I love being in the building.”

Ms. Lalita said that what motivated her to be kind to people every day was mutual respect; she believes people should treat people the way they’d want to be treated.

She said that kids are “pretty surprised” when they see the custodians doing “outside work” and don’t realize that they also maintain the grounds outside the school.

Mr. Malmstrom, a journalism teacher at WMS, said that, “Ms. Lalita brightens everyone’s day. She has an incredible personality, and she always puts me in a good mood.” When asked how WMS would change if she were absent for a day, he said, “I love talking to her, so my day would be less bright without Ms. Lalita here.”

He believes that her most underrated quality as a person was the fact that “she really goes out of her way to help other people whenever she can” and “goes above and beyond every time I see her doing something.” 

Mr. Malmstrom said he believes that Ms. Lalita is a “role model” and when people see her walking around with a smile and giving compliments, it’s “infectious” and rubs off on students.

Mr. O’Halloran, the vice principal, said, “Ms. Lalita is just super consistent; she’s here every day; she’s always got a smile on her face. If you need help with something, she is right there with you. So she makes WMS just a happier, cleaner, and better place to be.” Overall, she makes WMS a better place to work for him.

When asked why it’s important for a school to have someone like Ms. Lalita as a staff member, Mr. O’Halloran said that “her positivity impacts the culture” in a “wonderful” way. He said that he wanted everyone to come to WMS happy to be there. He also believed that it’s extremely important, especially for kids in their preteens and early teens.

Mr. O’Halloran mentioned, “I’m very happy for Ms. Lalita and her nomination by the staff for support person of the year. It is certainly well-deserved.”

Ms. Lalita is an amazing individual who helps make everyone’s day a little better and easier.