Custodians help keep students safe from germs and the messes around the school. Students may get a chance to talk to them every now and then during after-school hours while leaving a club meeting or just walking through the halls to say hi. Other students have heard interesting stories and tales about things from their pasts or things they do while keeping the school clean.
Custodian Jeff Sims graduated in 1986 and joined the U.S. Army right after. He did basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri, then was stationed in Karlsruhe, West Germany until November 1989 and then finally came home. He then started working in town at three different factories that have gone out of business.
“I became a custodian for a steady job,” Sims said.
He has proudly worked here for over 17 years and appreciates all of the teachers and administrators.
Sims enjoys sports, such as football, basketball and NASCAR. He has two of his own sons, one of which works at Columbia Elementary School. He also has two stepsons and a daughter. He is married to Rebecca Sims, who he loves dearly. She is a preschool teacher in Peru at the moment, and in total they both have nine grandchildren.
Matt Ingles is another custodian who is a more recent addition, working almost two years at LHS. First and foremost, he is a husband and father of four kids. Before he started working at the school, he was a furniture manager at Big Lots and was there for two years. He’s been in some bands and even plays the bass, guitar and drums. Ingles became a custodian due to the fact he wanted to keep things clean. He wants future kids to be proud of the school they are in.
“I really got into music when I was younger,” Ingles said. “My dad played country and most of my family got into country as well. I got into rock when I first heard AC/DC. I’ve been playing on and off for 15 years. Music has helped me in some really bad times throughout my life.”
One of the first bands he joined was called Awaken!TheCity. It was then renamed as Inside Audio. He wishes to regroup and get back into making music and even possibly producing records.
Brian VanSoest is a custodian of the school as well. He has been working at LHS for over 16 years now and is still going strong. Previously, he worked at Modine Manufacturing for 26 years until they announced their closing. He started working at Columbia Middle School, and then moved over to the high school to take care of the pool and auxiliary gym. He is now in the Berry Bowl and has been doing his work for 12 years.
“I was honored and very fortunate to have been given the Crystal Berry Award in 2017,” VanSoest said.
He has been a runner for over 25 years and has run in 200 races. He is proudly active in church and has been married for 42 years.
