'He's the king': Children's heart-warming goodbye to school janitor
Hundreds of schoolchildren gave their favourite staff member a send off fit for royalty as 83-year-old ‘Mr John’ prepared to retire.
Sand Hill Primary School janitor John Lockett has turned up to work every day for the past 12 years with a positive attitude and the children in northwest Georgia adore the happy-go-lucky role model.
"He's at work every day no matter how bad he feels with a smile on his face," Sand Hill Principal Carla Meigs told US news outlet KHOU11.
Ms Meigs described him as “the grandfather at school" and says she encouraged Mr Lockett to retire last year due to his health.
But he insisted on waiting so he could end the US school year at the same time as the children he works with.
The kids refer to him affectionately as “Mr John” and decided he should be treated like a king on his final day at school.
The children lined the hallway and dubbed the janitor’s final day "Mr. John Day" on Friday (local time).
‘He’s the king’
Placing a crown on his head and draping a cape around his shoulders, Mr Lockett was accompanied by his wife as he walked through the crowd of cheering children, collecting cards wishing him a happy retirement.
Mr Lockett was so overcome with emotion, he couldn’t hold back the tears when he saw the surprise
“What is going on?, ya’ll gonna make me cry,” he said.
Mr Lockett was given a plaque thanking him for the countless hours of hard work and memories he had given to the children of the two schools he had worked at in the district.
“You have made a difference in the lives of so many,” the plaque read.
Mr Lockett was humbled by the well wishes.
"I come here and try to clean their school and I try to do it right because I know germs and disease are out there," he said.
Mr Lockett plans to spend more time with his grandchildren, but the students at Sand Hill will not forget him any time soon.
"Me and my friends were like, 'He's the king'," third grader Eli Mays said.
And Mr John says he will not forget them either.
"These kids mean the world to me, the school is definitely a family to me," Mr Lockett said.
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