Whitebead School Custodian Nominated For National Custodian Of The Year

Dave Martin has been the custodian at Whitebead School for more than 40 years, and for the staff and students he is simply irreplaceable. 

Wednesday, March 30th 2022, 6:25 pm

By: Mike Glover


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Dave Martin has been the custodian at Whitebead School for more than 40 years, and for the staff and students he is simply irreplaceable. 

Martin is known to students simply as Mr. Dave. 

Mr. Dave doesn’t consider himself to be a workaholic, but he is passionate about his work.  

“I rise early, get up come over here sometimes around 4:30 a.m., I guess,” said Mr. Dave.  

It is pretty common for him to work twelve-hour days and most weekends. 

“You know what, it’s enjoyable, because each day has a different challenge, but we’re like a family,” said Mr. Dave.  

Mr. Dave is the cleaner, gardener, bus driver, repair person, painter, consultant and so much more.  

“Throughout the night, somebody may forget their homework, and guess what, there’s nobody here, but they show up at Mr. Dave’s house and he’ll come over and unlock the doors,” said Tammie Richardson, fifth grade teacher at Whitebead.  

The halls of Whitebead just would not be the same without Mr. Dave’s signature whistle.  

“If I come early, I can hear him because he’s whistling, and he’s already got his happy spirit out,” said Whitebead School Superintendent Lou Ann Wood.  

“I think he reads minds, because I will say things like, hey could you, and it’s already done, before I even get the words out,” said Wood.  

Mr. Dave has now been nominated for National Custodian of the Year.  

“Out of a little over 2,200 people that were nominated, Cintas selected me to be in the top ten in the nation,” said Mr. Dave.  

“Everyone went out of their way to write a letter and tell them why he meant so much to Whitebead,” said Wood.  

Mr. Dave doesn’t do what he does for recognition, he does it to put a smile on students’ faces. 

“Positive every day, smiling because we don’t know what kids go through, and when they come to school they need to see smiling, they need to see positive,” said Mr. Dave.  

Mr. Dave is the only nominee from the state of Oklahoma. Voting for the award ends April 15th. Voting is at www.custodianoftheyear.com 

 


Mike Glover

Bio coming soon

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