'Hey, Willie!' Students at Butler Elementary have a janitor who’s always on call

BY EILEEN BRADY
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

The lawn tractor, the one with the snow−removal blade, wouldn’t start in the bitter cold. No matter. Willie Campbell clears the sidewalks the old−fashioned way, with a shovel and some effort. 

The last thing he would want is for someone to slip and get hurt, so he has been shoveling and sprinkling salt at Butler Elementary since 6 a.m., an hour before he is scheduled to start work as head custodian. 

The wind chill factor is 18 below zero and icicles form on his eyebrows, but Campbell’s outlook would be no different if it were 75 and sunny. After making sure the front steps are cleared, Campbell enters the building near the principal’s office. 

School hasn’t yet started, but as he adjusts to the warmth inside, his name is called — the first of hundreds of times he’ll hear it that day. The voice is tiny, barely audible. 

​“Hey, Willie ...” 

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