Andrea Johnson/MDN
North Dakota United President Nick Archuleta, left, presented the Education Support Professional of the Year Award on Monday to Minot High School-Central Campus custodian Bruce Schonberger, who is holding his granddaughter Payton Hatlestad, 2.
Bruce Schonberger, a custodian at Minot High School-Central Campus, was awarded the Education Support Professional of the Year Award by North Dakota United on Monday.
“Just being around the kids” is the best part of his job, said Schonberger, who was nominated for the award by Kristi Reinke, a former Teacher of the Year for the school district.
In nominating Schonberger, Reinke praised him for developing good relationships with the students, said Nick Archuleta, president of N.D. United who presented the award. Schonberger loves to spend time with the special needs kids at the school and helps them out when they are having a rough time and enjoys their good times too. Schonberger high fives kids and talks to them when he sees them in the halls
Schonberger said he has worked at Central Campus since 2014 and has been employed by the Minot Public Schools since 2008.
in addition to his custodial and building maintenance responsibilities, he also serves on the MPS Safety Committee and helps handle emergencies and unexpected problems at one of the largest schools in the district.
Schonberger has also been extremely involved with his local association and all of the ESPs who work with him in Minot. He is the financial officer for Chapter 52 of the North Dakota Public Employees local, which consists of custodian classified staff in Minot. He regularly attends monthly Building Representative meetings of the Minot Education Association and reports on the work his chapter is doing for their schools. He is currently the vice president of the Central Labor Council of the ND AFL-CIO.
Each year, he also organizes a union/public education float for the North Dakota State Fair Parade.
“This is a huge responsibility as he has to order all the supplies, find volunteers and, most importantly, he walks in it every year, making sure all the attendees know exactly what the union and local association is all about,” Reinke said.
Each year, the NDU ESP of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding ESP member of our state association. ESP job categories include: paraprofessional, education assistants, secretarial or clerical, custodial, food services, maintenance and trades, transportation, grounds-keeping, security, technology services, health services and more.