On the J.T. Brackenridge Elementary School campus, Miss Bea and Miss Margie have seen a lot of changes.

Together, they — Beatrice Blanquiz and Margarita Negrete — have more than 35 years of experience as custodians there, with over 18 and 17 years of tenure, respectively. 

They’ve met a lot of teachers, a lot of students, and they still recognize many of those students out in the community. 

“I remember them,” Negrete said.  “Now they have brothers and sisters here. Some of them already graduated and I’m like ‘wow, I remember when you were in kinder, first grade and look at you now.’”

Their days are busy, but that’s how they’ve designed them. They often pick up extra shifts at schools where needed from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., before clocking in at J.T. Brackenridge from 2:30 to 11 p.m. For many years, they also worked as bus monitors from 6 to 8 a.m.

“I like my work,” Blanquiz said. “I like the staff. I see everybody here more than I see my family.”

Their days at J.T. Brackenridge start with a brief staff meeting with the head custodian who assigns any specific requests of the day before preparing their carts and going to inspect their assigned areas. 

“The head man is very good with us,” Negrete said. “He helps us and he works with us. He’ll go back and check on us and help us out.”

Negrete has 14 classrooms, but says she always checks on the restrooms that will serve students in tutoring first. 

“I check my restrooms, pick up trash, and make sure there is toilet paper and paper towels,” Negrete said. “I don’t want the kids for tutoring coming in and there’s no soap, so I just check everything, and get it ready for the kids to come in for tutoring.”

Once tutoring ends at 4:30 p.m., Negrete says she can access and clean the classrooms in her area. 

“After that I go back and do all my cleaning,” Negrete said. "Stairs, windowsills, doorknobs — there is always something to do. My hours go so fast here, you won’t believe it.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, their jobs are more important than ever, with even more details to keep kids safe.
“We have to clean even more now, disinfect more,” Negrete said. “Now we know we need to do everything they touch.”

Negrete credits Blanquiz with telling her about the opening at J.T. Brackenridge so long ago and helping her learn the best practices of the job. The two work as a part of a team of four each evening, taking pride in their work and helping one another.

“It’s teamwork,” Blanquiz said of her coworkers. “We work together and we take care of each other.”