Chinook Schools Summer Maintenance Team Getting the Job Done and then Some

When the school year ends, the students clear out their lockers and the teachers clear out of their rooms, and everyone goes home for the summer. Well, not everyone; the school maintains an office presence throughout the summer with various personnel in the building each day. The Maintenance crew however kicks their day-to-day presence in the building up to a whole new level as they spring into action to get the facility ready for the following school year.

Chinook schools has full time maintenance department that is headed up by Maintenance Supervisor Don Swenson. Joining him on the full-time staff are Clayton Parsons, Bridgette Briere, Ed Harrison, Robert Azure and Rob Darrah. This crew of six does a remarkable job throughout the school year but when it comes to the task at hand during the summer additional help is sought. Once the students and teachers leave for the summer the crew gets to work in earnest removing everything from the classrooms into the hallways so that a top to bottom deep clean can be done to each room.

This process takes time and with both the Meadowlark and the Junior/Senior high School buildings needing the same treatment additional help is hired for the summer. Most years the summer crew is right around 3-5 but this year nine summer employees are on the team allowing for even more work to get done. Bridgette Briere commented, "We are getting so much done, it's like we have two crews, and we are able to get painting done that wouldn't normally take place. We can really make the rooms, the whole building look so much better."

The Maintenance crew is zipping through the required projects and have really turned their attention to the finer details. One of those projects include the boys and girls locker rooms at the high school. The locker rooms haven't always been able to get the personal upkeep required to really make them shine due to time contsraints and limited staff. With the additional help this summer, Clayton Parsons was able to add his personal touch and elevate the locker room appearance as a result. The locker rooms are seen throughout the year by student athletes from all over Montana during the school year. Volleyball tournaments, basketball, wrestling tournaments use the locker rooms. Visiting teams for football dress out in the locker rooms as well, so for the appearance to be the best it can be, Chinook student athletes can take pride in their facility boosting school spirit.

Parsons used his artistic ability to paint the 'Beeter Logo and motto on the privacy screens at the entrance to each locker room. He also redid the benches and metal structure attached in a spectacular black and orange speckle. The finished project looks amazing and certainly elevates the appearance of the locker rooms when you walk in. "The football kids that have been in this summer really like it. They thought it was pretty awesome," said Parsons.

So how did the idea come to be, "Don came to me and asked if I thought I could do something with the locker rooms. I looked around and found an old projector in storage and used that to make the outline of the logo. Then took some of my own paint, some from the school and filled it all in," said Parsons. "The benches I redid and varnished to make them really look cool. The metal was all chipped, so I used a black base to cover everything and then went back over it with orange speckles to really make it look cool," added Parsons. Quit an extensive project takes time, "Both locker rooms, all together it took me probably six weeks to get done."

Parsons has a genuine interest in painting and art in general and was confident from the get-go he could do the job, "I was comfortable with what need to be done and how to do it right. It's a bit of a hobby of mine, painting; I do some canvas work from time to time." The quality of work is exceptional and visiting athletes will surely notice the change when they see it for the first time this fall.