Our parents send us here, hoping, wishing, and praying that we’ll be okay; that we’ll remember to do laundry once in a while and not mix our whites with our colors, that we’ll eat right, clean our rooms once in a while, study, get good grades, and yeah- even that we’ll have fun. It’s a parents’ job to worry. But here at Newman, the weight is off our parents’ shoulders. Why? Because we have an awesome housekeeping staff.
They won’t tell you what to eat or make sure that you study, but they’re just as friendly as the folks back at home, and they wash your sheets too! A lot of us know them as our Moms Away From Home and even some staff members like Melodie Ounkham and Sheila Butts like to consider themselves as our second caretakers. They keep our bathrooms spick ‘n span, take out our trash, vaccuum, clean our personal sinks, and they manage to always do it with a smile.
“I enjoy serving the students. I especially like when someone will confide in me when they’re having a bad day and I can talk with them and just cheer them up a little,” said Melodie Ounkham, a housekeeping staff member who has worked here at Newman for 9 years. Melodie also loves the friendly environment and being our second-mom.
Ounkham’s most frequent lunch buddy, Sheila Butts, another housekeeping staff member here at Newman who has worked here for 4 years next month, also admits to liking the students. “I’ve made a lot of friends here: students and co-workers. Here at Newman, everybody cares about everybody. The employees as well as the students. We’re a big family.”
Both Ounkham and Butts will usually start the day at Newman at 6 a.m., bright and early. The friendly work environment, amiable students, as well as the manageable hours are what keep these two ladies coming back every year. They also optimistically added that they both love the new cafeteria and rennovations that were done to the building this summer, as they ate lunch together.
For the most part, we might take our parents for granted back at home, but let’s try and appreciate our housekeeping staff for all that they do. Because you gotta love knowing you’ll never run out of toilet paper, that your sheets will never go unwashed, and that there’s always someone to give you a nice smile at 6 in the morning to start your day.
So next time you see one of our Moms-Away-From-Home, say hello because there’s no doubt, she’ll say it right back.
-Annie Pie
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2 comments:
Its nice how you actually took the time and effort to get to know our 'MOMs' here, and cool acronym, did you come up with it yourself?
I liked this article Annie, you did what most people wouldn't take the time to do by getting to meet these nice people we often take for granted! Nice Job!
Jerry I hope you are happy! I read both your and Annies articles! Your two should write for the Chicago Tribune! ;)
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