Most people look at a building with a gymnasium, library, classrooms, desks and computers and think school. However, thanks to the many individuals who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of St. Dominic, we are able to walk in and think home. Heidi Havrilla is one of the extraordinary staff members that makes our school the best it can be. 

Mrs. Havrilla started working at St. Dominic four years ago as a part of the facilities staff. Everyday, she works to make sure everyone in the St. Dominic community is in the best environment possible. Here is what a day in the life of Mrs. Havrilla looks like:

Mrs. Havrilla’s alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m. After her usual morning routine of making her bed, drinking a cup of coffee, watching the news and checking on her kids, she arrives to St. Dominic at 6:15. She sets up coffee for the rest of the faculty, tidies up the office and then heads down to prayer. After the bell rings, she cleans up the cafeteria, locks the doors at 8:15 and runs a vacuum over the rugs in the front lobby. She also mops and sweeps the front steps leading to the small gym, and by that time it’s around 9:30, which means break until 9:45.

After break, she cleans the bathrooms and wipes down the tables in the cafeteria. During Empower Hour, Mrs. Havrilla goes up and down the hallways making sure there’s no food or trash on the floor. She eats lunch at 12:00, and then re-vacuums the rugs, mops the front lobby floor and cleans up the cafeteria. Her final task of the day is to tidy up the teacher’s lounge and head home! Once she gets home, she loves to relax for a while and spend time with her kids.

St. Dominic would be a very different place without the warm personality and smile of Mrs. Havrilla. All the work and effort she puts into our school goes such a long way, and we are so blessed to have her and the rest of our maintenance staff be a part of the St. Dominic community. Her favorite part of her job is:

“Seeing my kids interact with their friends and knowing I’m doing this job for a purpose and knowing that my kids absolutely love it here,” said Mrs. Havrilla.

However, Mrs. Havrilla has actually been in the St. Dominic community since she was our age–she’s an alumni! She loved St. Dominic as a student and is so grateful to send her kids here. Outside of work, she loves to sit in the backyard, barbecue and play ball with her kids. A fun fact about Mrs. Havrilla is that she can water ski!

Next time you see Mrs. Havrilla or any other member of the maintenance staff, be sure to say hello and thank them for all of the incredible work they do to make St. Dominic a wonderful place to be at.