From Student, to Janitor, to Principal: Why This Elementary School's New Leader Feels so 'Blessed'

A newly appointed California elementary school principal has taken an untraditional journey to be in the position that he is in today. 

You could say Mike Huss knows Ione Elementary School like the back of his hand. He recognizes every student and is familiar with the history of the building – from floor to ceiling. 

That's because he started at the school as a student when he was a child. Then he spent a decade working there as a janitor before taking the leap to become a teacher. 

"A lot of teachers here at Ione Elementary kept saying, 'You're wasting your time. Look at these kids. They want to be around you and they learn from you. You need to go back and became a teacher,'" Huss told Good Morning America about his janitor days.

After 19 years of teaching at his alma mater, Huss has now become the school's principal. 

"I am blessed. I truly am and I don't do anything special. I just show up and work hard. I show up and try my best," the 55-year-old said.

For Huss, it is a new chapter in a journey he thought he'd never take. He said he never had plans to continue his education.

"I'd fallen in love, I wanted to get a job and help my wife go through college," Huss said of being a custodian. "So I just said 'oh, they've got a school's janitor job, I'll take it,' and it worked out. I didn't know I was going to stay there for all these years."

Huss said he took the chance to become a teacher because he wanted to be an example to his son. 

"I wanted to show my young son, that if your dad can do this, if your dad can be the school janitor (while) coaching youth sports, maintain a good grade point average, and become a school teacher, you can accomplish anything in this life," he told KCRA-3.

Huss worked nightly at the school while attending Sacramento State University to obtain his degree. 
 
He was hired less than a week after graduating. 

"I was literally the school janitor on a Monday. I worked a double shift," he said. "The very next day, Tuesday, I was in my first teachers' meeting. Thursday of that same week, I had my first class."

Now he has the opportunity to "lead the school."

He has only been principal for two weeks but is receiving a mountain of support. 

"They give me hugs and say, 'You're doing a great job,' and it's really cute to see a first grader tell you that. 'You don't even know what I'm doing. But thank you very much for saying it.' But they see me out and interacting so I think to them, that's all that matters," Huss said, adding that the school is "a wonderful place to be because of the kids."

"It's neat when people can stay in their community and there's opportunities like this," Ione Elementary's office administrator Melanie Cortez told KCRA-3

Huss said he is trying to be an example to his students and shine a light on teachers. 

"What I want people to understand is that there are really good teachers out there doing really amazing jobs," he said. "It's just about growing a world, making it a better place."

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