b'roughly 20 class-roomswiping tables,vacuum-ingrugs,and sweepingand moppingfloors. Youknow,its not easy. Its a lot of work. I mean, andthatsyour jobeverysingle day.WhenRocha landed at TuscanRocha and Tuscan principal, Malikah Majeed, during the last full Elementary sevenweek of school.years ago, on the day shift starting at 6 a.m., he neverhats, and Rocha took that role both looked back. I open up the school. Iliterally and figuratively, as he has been turn on all the lights, make sure noth- knowntodoncrazyhatsforyears, ings broken or that pipes havent burstmuchtothedelightofteachersand since the heat is on every night duringstudents. Rocha says he has 85-90 hats, the winter. Speaking of winter, Rochaincluding a court jester cap, a reindeer says snow days are just part of the job. hat, a Thanksgiving turkey hat, and ev-Ifitsnows,Ihavetocomeinerything in between. I started wearing frommyhomeinNorthArlingtonthem one Christmas and people got a like two or three hours before schoolkick out of them and I saw what joy opens up to clean all the grounds andit brought people. I just kept wearing parking lots. The district comes in andthem.plows but all the walkways have to beRocha arrived in the United States cleanedandsalted,andoftenthatsasayoungadolescentwithhistwo just enough time to clean before a de- parentsandthreesiblingsfromthe layed opening. Azores,thePortuguesearchipelago His Tuscan colleagues hold Rocha inhighesteem.Third-gradeteacher Kim Boryeskne recalls that whenever sheneededhelpwithbrokendesks, trapped creatures, kid spills or related childissueshehelpedimmediately. Boryeskneadds,Itendtogetvery anxious over vomit in the classroom and Leonel seems to know this so he literallymakestheclean-upnearly funI mean, what other human in the world can take a situation like that and turn it into laughter?As far as how Covid and education in a post-Covid world affected Rochas workload,itbecamemoreintense. But Boryeskne says it was bearable be-cause Leonel greeted us every single day with a smile and positive attitude. From helping us man the lunch situa-tion outside and drag the tables in and out of the building every day once we reopenedschool,towalkingaround drillingsanitizerdispensersintothe walls of our classroom, he never once stopped saying Hi! to us and sharing silly antics. Rocha on June 21, 2023 - Leonel Appre-Custodiansoftenweardifferentciation Day at Tuscan. feature story /29'