Students and staff at North Folk Elementary School created a “celebration tunnel” in honor of head custodian Ed Sorensen’s retirement.
Students clapped and cheered as he was pushed in a decorated wheelchair by Principal Denise Pearl, stated a news release. Students also made special cards, congratulating him on his retirement and thanking him for being their custodian.
Sorensen worked for Woodland Public Schools for 12 years and served as the head custodian at North Folk Elementary for the past 10 years. After trying jobs in several other industries, he decided to work in schools because of his own experiences as a K-12 student.
“I remember growing up with friendly janitors in my schools who looked out for me, and I thought, ‘I could do that,’” Sorensen stated in the release. “These little kids are really special. Sometimes you see a kid who just needs a friend and I try my best to do that for every one of them.”
While he doesn’t have any concrete plans for his retirement, Sorensen knows he won’t sit still, although he does look forward to sleeping more.
“I’ll find something to do, but I’m not going to start at 5 a.m.,” he joked.
Sorensen moved to Woodland when he was 5 years old and has lived there ever since, stated the release.
“The biggest change over time has definitely been the growth of the community,” he said. “When the town was smaller, everyone knew each other so, growing up, you couldn’t get in trouble, or everyone would know.”
The staff presented Sorensen with a toolkit full of tools and other gifts to show their appreciation for his many years of dedicated service.
