The vibrant flowerbeds in front of the White Administrative Service Center show one of the impacts TJC’s new groundskeeper, Brandy Roberts, has made on the campus’ appearance.
Roberts has been with TJC since this September and in this short time she has shown profound love and care for the campus.
According to Trevor McNeill, landscaping and grounds supervisor, Roberts was interviewed for two open positions, electrician and gardener. When she was told what the gardening position entailed, “her face lit up, that was a huge plus for campus.”
The supervisor described the quality of Roberts’ work by saying, “Even all my guys say she gets after it, she does it and doesn’t complain. Always has a smile on her face. She’s doing a lot of good things for TJC.”
Sherry Fuller, director of Career Education Services, also expresses her admiration for the groundskeeper’s work as the garden outside her office has improved appearance since she was hired.
She accentuates Roberts’ work by saying, “the flowerbeds in front of the WASC building have been less than stellar for the four years I have been here, but Brandy is really making a huge impact on the school’s appearance. She is working wonders.”
Roberts explains the process she has carried out to restore the flowerbeds, which includes cleaning out the beds, taking out invasive Jasmine and giving the plants extra “tender loving care.”
She enjoys gardening outside of her job and grows organic vegetables all year around, which she wants to incorporate into TJC.
“I do worry a lot about the critters, the little bees and such. And so, I would like to try to incorporate some more organic practices,” Roberts said.
She is looking forward to creating programs to get people more involved with these organic practices and gardening in general “because of how relaxing, healing and peaceful it is” and she’d like to share that experience with others.
Her work has been warmly welcomed into the campus and the groundskeeper expresses her gratitude for the appreciative comments, freedom and trust she receives while performing her job.
Roberts describes the comments as empowering.
“I have not gone home one single day without a pocket full of beautiful heartfelt
comments on all my work and that has meant a lot,” Roberts said. “For people to stop and say hello and what you’re doing is looking great. I really appreciate it.”
