Walking into the custodian’s office, I hear a welcoming “Hello!” Juan Mendez invites me into his office where he is working at his computer. Before I even ask to record the interview, Mendez is smiling at me. His joyous attitude is infectious, and throughout the whole interview I had a smile that leaped from one corner of my face to the other. My smile only got wider when I asked when Mendez started being a custodian. “April 7, 2008.” More than 11 years later, Mendez still remembers his first day as a custodian.

His positive attitude and hardworking demeanor shined true with each question I asked. “I love providing service to teachers and students. I would advise anyone who comes in to have a smile no matter what happens, no matter what kind of work they have to do.”

October 15, 2019 was Mendez’s last day at Fossil Ridge High School. It’s a happy ending, however, as he is leaving to focus full time on his cleaning business that he started 3 years ago. “My goal is to have my business, grow my business, and in the future my kids will take over.”

Throughout his four years at Fossil, Mendez has experienced both the fire at the 2016 homecoming and the fire in the wood shop in spring of 2019. “I don’t have any funny stories, but something different is that there were two fires; one in the gym, and one this last year in the wood shop.”

Mendez’ main hobby is refurbishing old diesel trucks. He buys the truck, and then gets all the parts and fixes the truck himself. “About a year ago, I purchased a first gen [Ram] Cummins. Right now it’s running great, I use it to get to work everyday.”

Juan Mendez is an example to both the Fossil Ridge community and to all of those around him that there’s nothing a smile and some elbow grease can’t fix. On behalf of everyone here at Fossil, thank you, Mr. Mendez.