After 50 years of serving in the school district, Janitor Ken Winger is retiring from Highland Elementary sometime this August. Winger started in the district in 1971 and arrived at Highland in 1986, where he’s been for 35 years.
Highland Elementary Principal Chris Trostad had nothing but great words about Ken’s character and work ethic. “Everybody in Crookston knows that he is a guy that takes great pride in his work,” said Trostad. “He wants a great educational environment for the kids and the staff, and every year the building looks like it’s brand new.” 
The building itself is over 50 years old, but Winger does everything in his power to keep it up to date. According to Trostad, you don’t even have to ask him to fix things; if he sees something that needs to be fixed, he takes care of it.
When it comes to Winger, Trostad believes everyone got their money’s worth over the last 50 years. “He’s the kind of guy where the taxpayers got more than their “bang for their buck,” said Trostad. “His work ethic is amazing; you can walk around our building and see the pride he takes in his work. Phenomenal guy, and he’ll be tough to replace.”
The good news for anyone involved at Highland is that Ken has trained his staff over the years to work hard and maintain the building, including his son Corey who will be a big part of the school moving forward.
There is one job that Ken didn’t like compared to the others, and that was shoveling in the wintertime. “I know he won’t miss the shoveling, probably the least favorite part of his job,” said Trostad. “However, he never complained about anything and was always doing things behind the scenes to make our school the best it could be.”
Winger plans to travel and spend time with family during retirement and will enjoy relaxing for a change. Trostad believes the biggest thing that will be missed is his pride in the school. “He’s just always working on something,” said Trostad. “Washing windows, extra times during the day spent on other projects; he took great pride in making sure the kids had a great environment to learn.”
Tags:
