Audrey Bridges, Building Services Coordinator (BSC), is passionate about making sure that the students and teachers of the district have a clean, safe school environment for teaching and learning.
“Audrey has done excellent work in our district,” said (former) Geneva School District Superintendent Kent Mutchler. “She provides excellent leadership that we will miss. She puts students first in her work.”
In fact, she loves her job so much that her that even though she is retiring to Alabama next summer after more than 20 years in the district, she is considering finding a job at a school.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else. People who know me know I don’t stop,” she laughed. “I take pride in what I do, I love helping everyone do their best. I get so much satisfaction out of making sure everything is safe and secure.”
Audrey joined the district in 2001 as a teacher’s aide working one on one with students at Harrison Street School and later Coultrap Elementary School. “I got so attached to the kids I worked with, it was hard to see them go at the end of the year,” she said.
In 2006 she moved to the custodial department and worked the second shift in custodial and maintenance at Mill Creek Elementary School, and later she maintained the Friendship Station Preschool at Geneva Middle School South. In 2009, she was the head custodian at Fabyan Elementary School and later moved to Geneva High School as the campus manager. This past June, many of the students she knew at the preschool graduated from Geneva High School.
Three years ago, Audrey’s passion and hard work was rewarded with a promotion to BSC, and now she oversees the custodial staff at all the district’s buildings. She credits the hard work of the custodial staff and the support of the maintenance and grounds staff who have all stepped up to work as a team to help wherever needed, sometimes even staying long after their shifts end to make sure everything was done.
Throughout her career, Audrey has continued to interact with the children. At Friendship Station she would stay late after her shift to draw fun pictures and messages for the students on the classroom whiteboards. At Fabyan Elementary School she would read to the children in classrooms, and she would set up displays at Christmas and Halloween of villages with lights in the glass display cases. “When the kids came in in the morning and walked up the stairs they saw the village,” she said. “I enjoyed their reactions when they came in in the morning.”
“I don’t have enough words to say how grateful I’ve been to the all the staff for pitching in where needed,” she said. “Everyone has gone above and beyond to try to help, doing their own jobs and helping others do their jobs too. The grounds and maintenance staff have helped the custodians and the custodians have helped grounds and maintenance. Working at the district has been a great experience. I’ve loved every position I’ve held at the district.”