Custodian receives award for effort during pandemic

Wayne Ettinger was at work one day when his phone rang.

It was early May of this year, and the 59-year-old was finishing a long day at L.E. Shaw Elementary School in Avonport, Nova Scotia.

Ettinger answered the phone. A woman spoke.

“You’ve been nominated for the Dr. Robert Strang Community Hero Award.”

Ettinger shook his head. “Oh? This is the first I knew about it.”

Ettinger hung up the phone. He picked up his spray bottle and continued to sanitize the door handles in the school’s long halls.

Ettinger started working at the school three years ago. He is the custodian.

For 15 years, Ettinger, who was born in Nova Scotia, was self-employed mowing lawns in the spring and shovelling snow in the winter.

Seven years ago, Ettinger started doing custodial work at schools and started at L.E. Shaw Elementary in 2018 as the evening janitor.

His shift was 2:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“I usually got there around 2 o’clock,” Ettinger said.

When COVID-19 closures started in March 2020, no one was quite sure what September would look like at the school.

Extra cleaning measures would need to be taken, and the day janitor was on sick leave.

Ettinger was chosen to be the new daytime caretaker for the school.

Every day, Ettinger would do the rounds and make sure he checked in with every teacher.

The principal of the school,

Cordelia Gallant, noticed Ettinger’s work ethic.

“Wayne noticed the spouts of the sanitizer bottles were getting clogged after being used,” Gallant said.

“He would take a paper clip and clean the spouts out,” she said.

Gallant was aware of Ettinger’s important presence in the school.

“He has taken the time to invest in each person. He’s that gentle, quiet individual, and he takes much pride in what he does.”