Astarte ‘Manny’ Brown is a custodian at the Ellis Elementary School in Roxbury, MA. Manny has been a member of the Ellis community since November, and he has already made a big impact on staff and students.
Manny comes to school every day with a smile on his face. He is kind and respectful to every student, staff member, and family member in the Ellis community. Manny is an excellent role model for students. He is a hard worker with a positive attitude that is contagious to everyone around!
“Manny is so nice,” says Ms. Pena, a Kindergarten teacher, “always willing to help without asking questions and he is so kind to the kids–they love him!”
According to Coach Leah, AmeriCorps Coach at the Ellis School, Manny always makes sure the playground is clean and ready for recess. “After a big snowstorm,” Leah said, “he spent almost an hour with me outside shoveling the recess yard so that the kids had a place to play at recess.”
Kelly, a Kindergartener at the Ellis, adds that “Manny cleans up the tables when we make a mess and cleans the recess yard so we can have fun with Coach Leah!” Manny also makes sure Coach Leah’s space is ready to go for Junior Coach training, even before Coach Leah arrives at school!
Not only does Manny clear the space for play, he is not afraid to get in the game! According to Eylanii, 5th grader at the Ellis, “Manny cleans up our Playworks recess yard and he is such a nice person. If I could say one thing to him right now it would be thank you for playing basketball with us!”
Without dedicated school staff members like Manny, Playworks cannot create a safe, inclusive, and fun school environment for all of our students. We know Manny will continue to look out for students at the Ellis and work hard to make the school day great for every kid.
