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One man worked for 20 years as a 911 call taker and police dispatcher. Another worked for A.B. May in the plumbing department. The other was the facilities manager for the Kansas City school district. Today, they all work to help make St. Teresa’s Academy a safe and clean campus, whether they are on security or facilities at STA.

Head of security Bob Wessling, maintenance manager Rafael Ramirez and assistant maintenance manager Gil Mont, all come from different working backgrounds, but today help to make STA a protected and well-kept environment.

“It makes me proud and happy when I can make things happen to assist the STA staff and make STA a better place,’ Mont said.

According to Mont and Ramirez, a lot of hard work goes into making STA such a great place. Both men work 40 hour weeks, which might consist of setting up for events on campus, turning on lights each day, checking heating and cooling systems and disarming alarms on buildings and making coffee for the teachers.

With the new chapel construction, the maintenance and security team has more work. Ramirez attends meetings weekly for updates on the chapel. The maintenance crew helps move equipment to aid the construction. After construction, Wessling will have another building to check and lock up.

Ramirez, Mont and assistant maintenance manager Howard Russell make up the maintenance team at STA, but other companies help to maintain the STA campus. According to Ramirez, Doug’s Lawn Company comes in weekly to cut the grass, trim around the concrete and trim bushes, as well as a Trugreen commercial service treating the grass for weeds.

Other STA faculty have to contact the maintenance team in order to keep the school running smoothly. According to administrative assistant Kelly Drummond, she calls the maintenance team multiple times a day whenever teachers need help.

“When [teachers] have a problem with their classroom, the grounds or the facilities, they contact me and I get the [facilities team] working on it,’ Drummond said. ‘I’m the liaison between them and the administration to fix things that are broken, if it’s too hot in a classroom or something needs to be moved.’

Wessling also contacts the facilities team when he feels there is a problem with the campus that could cause a safety concern.

Even after the usual workload, the maintenance team sometimes has some extra jobs to do. Ramirez said he helps many people out with these kinds of jobs and visits some interesting places.

“I have jumped in the dumpster to look for someone’s lost ring, been in a sewer man hole to get someone’s phone that fell in there and picked up after vomit on the floor,’ said Ramirez.

According to Mont, in the summer, multiple jobs have to be completed before the school year begins. The jobs could take several days, affect students’ safety and may involve turning off power and water. These jobs include painting, large repairs and installation of new technology.

After all of the hard work, Wessling, Mont and Ramirez said they have no “least favorite” part of their job. They all enjoy working with the administration and students. According to Ramirez, the STA community is like a big family to him and he looks forward to meeting all of the students and parents every year.

‘I feel like everyone I work with here at STA is part of my family, from the students, volunteers, teachers, and staff, to president Nan Bone,” Ramirez said. “That means I have a big family and I will do anything for my family.’