Traveling their paths

For Eden Lake and Forest Hills’ maintenance operations coordinator, work is a chance to uplift others.

Name an Eden Prairie Schools building, and Jorge Garcia has probably helped keep it in top shape for students and staff. Since joining Eden Prairie Schools as a day custodian in spring 2017, he’s worked at every school except Cedar Ridge Elementary. “It’s been a wonderful experience. The opportunities are there,” he said of his seven years in the district. “I’m big on helping others and training — paying it forward. I look at it as a community of people, not only our immediate staff, but the whole school. I try to look at the big picture and hopefully give something back.” 

“I like to learn about their culture, their family, their background. I like to make connections, because I’ve traveled some of their paths.” – Jorge Garcia

As an immigrant who came to America in 1969 not speaking any English, Garcia can empathize with the unique experiences of our staff members and the students and families they serve. “The diversity that we have, just in our department — we probably have, I think, 23 people from different countries,” he said. “I like to learn about their culture, their family, their background. I like to make connections, because I’ve traveled some of their paths.” 

That diversity came in handy, Garcia remembered, when a family dropped off two young children at Oak Point Elementary not realizing there was no school that day. It was clear English wasn’t the students’ primary language, so Garcia gave his other four languages a try — Spanish, French, Russian and Italian. Eventually, he realized the students had recently come to Eden Prairie from Ukraine. “I got on the phone, and I called one of my guys who happens to be Ukranian, and he speaks four different languages. I was like, ‘Uh, can you come and help me?’,” Garcia laughed. “And the funny part is, after we got all done with this, he said, ‘You know, I had to talk to the grandparents. And the grandparents grew up one town away from me, and they kind of knew my family.’ So, there. You make a connection. It doesn’t take much.”

Speaking of connections, Garcia’s made plenty of his own. One in particular sticks with him years later. When Garcia supported the TASSEL Transition Program, which serves students ages 18-22 with disabilities, a mother brought her student to school early each day. “He always had a hard time going into his classroom,” Garcia recalled. “At that time, I was vacuuming the front entryway, and he would always come over to me. And I asked mom, ‘Is it okay if he vacuums for just a few minutes?’ So every morning he would come in, and I’d say, ‘Okay, yup, that’s fine, you can vacuum, but you gotta remember this is my job, and my boss is watching. So you can do it for a few minutes,’” he chuckled. “And then he would happily go into his room. So it became kind of a routine for him. And a few months later, his mom talked to me, and she said, ‘You know, he’s never reacted to anyone that way. And he’s becoming more open.’” The emotion on Garcia’s face was clear. “That brings a wonderful feeling in my heart.” 

What might others not realize about the EP Facilities team? Their qualifications, Garcia said. “You look at the background that some of these people have — they were engineers, they were master plumbers, they were master electricians in another country. I have somebody that was a doctor,” he emphasized. Certification requirements can pose barriers to employment for people in these professions immigrating to the U.S. “You get people that have their master’s in other countries, people that have doctorates, but they’re cleaning toilets for you.” All facilities team members, he said, are “kind of the unsung heroes of the school.”

The job has become even more personal for Garcia lately — two of his grandchildren now attend Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion. “I try to give all of my accolades. People come to me and say, ‘Hey, you’ve got one of the most beautiful schools, it’s all clean and everything.’ I say, ‘It’s not me — it’s my guys.’”