Lester Hughes
Every community partner and volunteer who serves Milwood Elementary is better and stronger because of one man: Mr. Lester Hughes.
For almost 30 years, KPS has entrusted Mr. Hughes with the care taking of its school buildings. Not only has Mr. Hughes embraced his work as a custodian, he has gone above and beyond to assure that the learning environment is ready every day for children. He does his work beautifully and, at the same time, is connecting with the kids…every day. He calls them by name and teaches them about respect. He lets them know they are special. And when he sees a student acting up in the hallway, he takes advantage of this and makes it a teachable moment.”
“Mr. Hughes,” says Site Coordinator Deborah Yarbrough, “serves with a glad heart. He welcomes EVERYONE who enters Milwood Elementary School. He brings with him every day laughter and joy to our building. Anything we ask him to do, it is done! We recently had a volunteer luncheon. I walked in early to help set up. I found that Mr. Hughes had already had everything set up and he stood there, smiling at me and said, ‘What’s next?’ He goes far beyond the call of duty.”
Mr. Hughes has told us that the partners entering the building are passionate and work well together with KPS and KCIS to create an environment that children can thrive in. As the wise Mr. Hughes has often told us, “It’s about ownership and making people feel a part of our school, from families to parents to our community. Only with a sense of ownership can change happen. Then we have an environment that our children can express their passion, their dreams, their visions.”
Lester Hughes, congratulations on your 2008 Champ Award!