'Mr. Bob' makes a dream come true

NEA Today, Feb 2001

A ho-hum school takes on a new life, thanks to school custodian Bob Waterman.

For the 10 years that custothan Bob Waterman has been working at Sacred Heart Public School in Lebanon, New Hampshire, he's dreamed of making his school more kid-friendly

"It looked like a prison," he says, about this 100-year-old building that once housed a Catholic school. "If you can imagine an old two-story brick building surrounded by an eight-foot high chainlink fence, where even the playground is, paved with asphalt, then you are picturing Sacred Heart."

Over the years "Mr. Bob," as the K-12 students affectionately call him, used what he learned in a high school architecture class to doodle ideas on paper for making Sacred Heart more modern. He envisioned grass and curved walkways, flowers and trees.

Last year, Waterman's paper drawings became real.

"I was tired of seeing so many kids getting injured on the blacktop, enough was enough," he says. "So I took a drawing to the principal and asked him how to get the funds needed to turn our school into one we would all be proud of."

Six months later, after numerous brainstorming sessions with the school's teachers, staff, and parents, Waterman found himself presenting his ideas and drawings to the local Parent Teacher Organization for funding of new playground equipment. After a hefty donation for the cause, he took his ideas to the school board, which unanimously agreed to fund construction.

In the months that followed, Waterman took the lead in working with contractors and city officials on the school's behalf.

Last June, just one day after school closed for the summer, Waterman watched as construction crews ripped up pavement and started the makeover. In just three months, the school was transformed.

This fall, grass, flowers, and park benches replaced pavement at Sacred Heart. Curved paths lead to the school door; the play areas have new and safer equipment surrounded by bark mulch. A grass field where kids can actually play sits behind the school.

"So many people volunteered their time and energy to make this come together," he says. "There was a lot of sweat."

The payoff came as children returned in September.

"I'm not a sentimental guy, but what

I witnessed on those children's faces the day they came back to school still chokes me up," he says.

"One little girl told her mom, `Look at how beautiful my school is.'"

Adds Waterman: "I always thought school should be a place for the community, and now that's happening here. Before we did all this, I used to get to school Monday morning and find vandalism and empty beer cans. Parents didn't bring their kids to the school to play on Saturdays because there was no place to play. Now it seems families are here all the time, which is exactly what I had hoped would happen."

Next up? A reconstruction of the school library. Waterman will build a mini amphitheater so the children have a fun place to sit during story time.

"I'm always looking at how we can better utilize our space so the kids will benefit," he says. "While I don't think becoming a school architect is in my immediate future, I hope to volunteer my knowledge at other schools that need a little help. It's so important to me that kids have a good place to learn, and I'm going to use all of the resources in my power to make sure they do."