A beloved staff member at a Delaware County school was celebrated by the community on Tuesday.
Chuck Smith has been a custodian at Saint Anastasia School in Newtown Square for over ten years and officials say he is a very important part of the team.
Students at the school lovingly call him Mr. Chuck and name him as one of the reasons why they think their school is a special place.
"He just helps out everyone and we just love him so much," one student said.
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As the lead custodian of a school with about 600 kids from Pre-K to 8th grade, Mr. Chuck handles just about everything.
"He makes everyone smile every day. He makes coming to school fun," another student told NBC10.
Mr. Chuck is credited with leading the way in keeping the school community safe during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as throwing exciting pep rallies for recent World Series and Super Bowl runs by our Philadelphia sports teams.
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The children even wore Philly sports gear for the celebration as Mr. Chuck, a South Philly native, is a lifelong fan of our teams.
They played games with him and jumped for joy cheering for him and chanting his name, "Mr. Chuck, Mr. Chuck."
"It’s his birthday, so it’s important that we celebrate him and let him know that we appreciate him so much," a student explained.
Most recently, staff wanted to thank him for his work to get the school running back in person following a boiler leak that forced the students to learn from home for a week.
"We wouldn’t be back in school after a week, we would have had to relocate to another school if this flood had not been contained that night and he had not come right like that to clean it up," St. Anastasia School principal Beth Doyle said.
On Tuesday, the community surprised Mr. Chuck on his birthday to celebrate him for his hard work and "invaluable contributions" to St. Anastasia's.
While he kept his cool during the festivities, Mr. Chuck couldn't hold back the tears when he talked to NBC10.
"It’s overwhelming. I don’t deserve all of this. I’m just myself. I just do my job every day. I talk to every kid. I talk to every parent. I’m just me," he said.
Mr. Chuck and his wife Jackie moved to Newtown Square and joined St. Annie's Parish in 2000. They raised their two daughters there, who are now in college.
"I love working here. I love it. I love all the kids. I love all the teachers. Everybody treats me so well, like I said a million times," he said.
Mr. Chuck told NBC10 that he hopes to stay with St. Annie's forever.
"I grew up in South Philly," he said. "Everybody knows everybody here- all the parents know me, all the teachers and I just feel at home here. It does, it feels like my home.”
As the old saying goes, home is where the heart is.
