Gino Santoro doing what he does best at North Penn High School. Photo by Awa Harris | The Knight Crier.
13,685.5 days.
That is how long North Penn’s very own Gino Santoro has been working in the district.
To describe Santoro’s being at North Penn as work is an understatement. He has been a key personality, positive influence, and friend to all throughout his time working in the district’s facilities department. As Santoro embarks on his journey into retirement, the mark he has left on the lives of students and staff at North Penn will stay forever.
Santoro was born in Italy, about 45 minutes away from Naples, and at 14, he moved to Germany. At 18, Gino came here to the United States and worked for his uncle’s masonry business. Ten years later, Gino discovered the world of North Penn.
“I started in January of 1986. I was doing construction work and I wanted to get out of there. One of my relatives was working at the high school and he suggested I get a job at the school district. They said ‘It’s supposed to be a nice job, good benefits, and good insurance.’ It was something different for me. I was a groundskeeper, which was outside work so I didn’t mind,” Santoro said.
After working as a groundskeeper at Penndale Middle School, Gino transferred over to work as a custodian at North Penn High School, where he would continue to leave his mark on students and staff for 24 years.
“My job is not really a challenge. Some days are a little rougher than others, but most of it’s been pretty good, that’s why I lasted this long.” he said. “There’s a lot of great memories, a lot of good experiences plus, I made a lot of friendships, I met a lot of nice people.”
While at North Penn High School, Santoro has certainly made many strong friendships.
“Gino is part of the fabric of North Penn. I really think it’s easy for people to look at employees at numbers sometimes. But this is a school. People are the most important asset. Gino is the kind of person that gives a school like ours personality and heart. He gives the building a soul, and we are going to miss that more than we know,” teacher and baseball coach Kevin Manero said.
Genuine optimism and positivity can be rare to find, especially inside of a high school full of students who are waiting for the clock to hit 2:12 p.m. and be dismissed. At the high school, Santoro makes it his mission to uplift every person he comes across.
“When I come to work, I try to be positive. I try to make people’s jobs easier. Sometimes you see people that are not in a good mood in the hallways, I try to make them laugh. I enjoy when the kids give me fist bumps, I give fist bumps back. I try to make everybody’s day better and it makes my day better so it’s worth doing it! Better to be happy than not,” he said.
Santoro is such a key part of North Penn School District that he even won Custodian of the Year.
“That was a couple of years ago. We were having a meeting and everybody was in there. They started talking about this new award for an employee or custodian of the year and the principal started talking and talking. All of a sudden I realized ‘I think he’s talking about me!’ I was really surprised. It was really nice and I have that on video, which I won’t delete,” he said.
Santoro, 66, has lots of life ahead of him. With retirement comes time and he plans to use his time simply just living his life.
“I don’t retire every day, so I don’t know exactly what’s next,” he said, with a laugh. “I’m excited to do some traveling, go back to Italy and maybe visit my home town. It has been a long time since I was there."
Santoro plans to continue to connect with his community around him attend district sports games, nearby relatives, and friends.
“I don’t want to become a couch potato. I like to be around people, so I’m sure I’m going to do something,” he said.
The reality of retirement is that although working may be done, there is an emptiness that can cause the heart to miss what they once had.
“Getting up in the morning to come and see a lot of people is what I will miss. When I get up in the morning the only thing I will see is me in the mirror. That would be what I will miss most, to interact with the kids, since most of the time they make my day. I look forward to that and they keep me busy, they make sure I do a lot of work!” Santoro said. “So that’s the most, missing the people here, I’m sure.”
North Penn High School senior Joanne Mathews remarked on Santoro’s presence at the school.
“Everyone knows Gino. I see him all the time and his interactions with others truly shows his character. He is always really nice and brings a lot of energy wherever he is,” Mathews said.
Santoro's impact he has made on so many people’s lives by simply being himself will remain forever.
“Work hard now and life will be easier later. When you come to school take it serious. Have fun but do what you’ve got to do so that when you get older you have a better job and life will be a little easier. Sometimes I see kids in the bathroom and they’re there more than me, so I say ‘Why don’t you do my job and I go to class for you!’So that’s the advice I would give. Get to the books today and life will be a lot easier.”
