Who is Kurt Tebbs? Some call him IHS’s friendly custodian, some refer to him as “T-Dog,” and somehow there are people who don’t even know who Mr. Tebbs is.
Students at IHS are going on a journey today to meet Mr. Tebbs and find out who he really is outside of school, and all the good he does within the school.
Tebbs is Indiana Senior High’s head custodian. He works five days a week and a few weekends a month. Mr. Tebbs has been a custodian here for three years, and head custodian for two.
On an average day for a head custodian, Tebbs cleans, fixes things, and turns in work orders for everything he can’t improve on his own.
Before working as a custodian Tebbs was a bus driver for IHS and when needed, he even steps in and continues to drive buses for the school. Tebbs is clearly a well-rounded person who has done a lot of jobs including working at Home Depot, working for an ambulance company, being a paramedic (which was very stressful), working at IUP while going to school there, and even being a bartender.
When asked if he has a lot of interaction with students he chuckled softly and with his usual sense of humor said, “unfortunately.” He is dismayed that he sees a lot of disrespect and playfully states that his favorite part of the day is “going home.” Tebbs explains that cleaning up graffiti is the aspect of his job that comes up the most.
Lily Speights commented, “Mr. Tebbs is so kind and the perfect person to go to if you need a laugh or some cheering up.”
Custodian Ray Kovach happened to walk by as Mr. Tebbs was being interviewed and jovially mocked, “Yeah Kurt, what do you do for fun?” to which Tebbs lightheartedly replied: “Messing with Ray!” and then continued on a more serious note that he enjoys model railroading, playing solitaire, watching TV, hanging out with his family which consists of his wife and 18-year-old son who he and his wife adopted from Guatemala.
Kurt Tebbs wishes the best for all the kids at IHS and jokingly states how he hopes their kids are someday as bad as they are.
Kristen is a junior and a first-year reporter for the High Arrow. She enjoys reading and writing and spends most of her time with her friends and watching movies. Kristen looks forward to meeting new people in the journalism community!
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