LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Michael Mendes' nominator would like to remain anonymous.

Mr. Mendes has been with Tiverton Public Schools since October 1994, when he started as a custodian. He has worked his way to his current position, director of maintenance. He is extremely knowledgeable, and he knows the schools like the back of his hand.

While serving as a head custodian at one of the elementary schools, he spent many hours with the students and loved every moment. He would come home with the best stories of the day and the special moments he would share with many of the precious souls that touched his day and made him smile. He lives in a small town, and whenever he was out in town, he'd see some of the students. They were so proud to say "Hi Mr. Mendes," and the smiles on their faces were priceless.

In this awful time of COVID-19, we hear a lot about essential and front line workers. We rarely hear about the custodial staff. Under the leadership of Mr. Mendes, Tiverton's custodial staff met all state guidelines and deadlines that were presented to them to make the schools clean, safe, and prepared to open on September 14th, 2020.

Mr. Mendes has spent many hours in training sessions on safety protocols with RIDE, OSHA, and the Department of Health, bringing back the knowledge to share with his staff. He has been in countless meetings after school hours and on Saturdays with local and state fire marshals to make sure all safety precautions were in place to have the safest, cleanest environment for children and staff. Complying with all the new safety requirements and regulations was not easy. Sometimes, it required Mr. Mendes to be "the bad guy." In his words, "This has to be right the first time. Our children are our most precious beings, and we have no room for error."