It’s often still dark outside when Michael Langley arrives at Woodside Elementary. As custodian, he spends his days doing the countless little things that keep the Topsham school running smoothly, from monitoring the building’s heating and cooling systems to sweeping away fallen autumn leaves to manually adjusting dozens of clocks for daylight saving time.

The work isn’t all glamorous, but it would be wrong to call Langley an unsung hero. At Woodside, everyone loves Mr. Mike. 

“The kids think he’s the coolest,” said parent Jonna Demeo, one of several members of the Woodside community who nominated Langley for this recognition. “And they’re not wrong.”

For the past four years, Langley, 40, has organized a maple syrup project that offers Woodside students the opportunity to get outside and learn about one of the region’s signature sweets — plus a little basic ecology and chemistry. It’s no small task. Langley spends his own time tapping trees around the school and beyond, then volunteers one of his vacation days to demonstrate the process of boiling down sap for all the children. 

“A lot of the kids nowadays, it’s all electronics,” said Langley, who grew up spending time in the woods near his Bowdoinham home. “They need to kind of get back to the basics.”

He’s found other ways to get the children of Woodside outdoors. He followed up his hit maple syrup project with an annual cider pressing tradition. He’s built a hiking trail around the school known as the Langley Loop, constructed furniture for Woodside’s outdoor classrooms and volunteered a Saturday to teach students how to ice fish.

Langley admits his efforts don’t leave him with a lot of free time. But the joy he brings to the kids makes it all worth it, he said: “The excitement on their face is just something you can’t get anywhere else.”

Maine State Credit Union is dedicated to supporting the people, traditions, and communities that keep our state strong. Learn more at mainestatecu.org.