Meet Danny Booker: the man, the myth, the mower
Custodial work often goes unnoticed as a behind the scenes job. Students and staff very rarely have the opportunity to build relationships with the custodial staff as they work early in the morning and late at night or during classes.
Danny Booker is Tunstall’s beloved morning shift custodian. He gets to our school as early as 5 a.m. so he can prepare the school and surrounding area for the upcoming day. Some of his duties include cutting grass, cleaning the grounds of any trash along with helping to maintain the ball fields.
Booker has been at Tunstall for three years and before that he worked as an auto body technician for 22 years at Middleton & Meads Co, Inc. in Baltimore City where he worked on emergency service vehicles and heavy collisions. He moved to Danville from Baltimore, Maryland. “I just wanted to get away from the city,” Booker said. Booker has family in the area including his step-brother, Dustin Hanks, who is also a custodian at Tunstall.
Booker very much prefers to work outside, saying his favorite thing to do is cut the grass, “I just want to be outside, I chase the sun.” He enjoys the warmth and comfort of Virginia much more than the bitter cold of Maryland.
To keep his equipment clean and kept up, Booker cleans and repairs it regularly. “I even wash the mop buckets and signs. If you pay attention at a lot of other places you’ll see the wet floor signs turning brown, but I can’t stand that.”
He can often be seen during the lunches walking around the cafeteria and through the halls removing the stacks of lunch trays left in the halls, holding the doors for students, sweeping various areas of the school building, and making sure trash cans are empty and clean. 
Booker has formed his own opinion about the students at Tunstall, “I think you are much nicer than people give you credit for. I think you all are pretty good, especially compared to back home,” Booker said.
Though many people may not know him by name, Danny Booker plays a vital part in keeping our school clean, making sure it is ready for students to enter each morning, and ensuring that everything is tidy throughout the day. If it weren’t for our custodians, our school would fall into disarray.
Your donation will support the student journalists of Tunstall High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
Editor-in-Hannah Scearce is a senior at Tunstall High School and this is her second year of journalism. She enjoys bothering her friends about new music,...
Elizabeth Lee is a senior at Tunstall, and this is her second year on the Trojan Messenger staff. She likes to hang out with friends, work, and go on adventures....
Hallie James Holt is a senior at Tunstall, and this is her second year on the Trojan Messenger staff. She spends most of her time reading and writing....
