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The Troup County School Board started its work session Monday night by honoring many men and women who often fly under the radar but have important jobs — the transportation staff, technology staff, food service workers, the maintenance department and custodians.

Each group was brought up for a photo and recognition by the school board and school system administrators.

“The easy thing would’ve been to just stay home,” said Chip Medders, who serves an assistant superintendent for TCSS. “I’m proud to say our food service workers and transportation chose to help kids.”

Medders said TCSS made, served and delivered 51,000 meals from March 16 to the end of the normal school year.

“Let that sink in,” he said.

When recognizing the custodial staff, he mentioned a recent meeting that Superintendent Brian Shumate had with principals.

He asked them to name a group in their buildings that they were really impressed with, and custodians were the overwhelming answer.

“I think that says a lot about what our custodians are doing, back in March and still to this day,” he said.

Medders also made a point to thank the maintenance staff, which continued to work after school closed for the pandemic. He said the grass still needed to be cut and work remained to ensure everything was still working as it needed to be.

“When many others were working from home, you’d see the trucks leaving at 6:30 in the morning to make sure whenever Dr. Shumate and the board of education said we were going back to school that our schools were going to be ready,” Medders said.

Medders also mentioned the technology department, which had to adjust on the fly and prepare in case every single student needed to go virtual.