SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Today’s Real American Hero Is Thomas Fitzwater Elementary Custodian Percy Herder

“African-American hero” Percy Herder gets a high-five from a student as he leaves the assembly at Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School Feb 19, 2016. Bob Raines – Digital First Media

WILLOW GROVE, PA: MontgomeryNews.com says he was the first 1,000 point scorer on an Upper Dublin High School boys basketball team, still holds the record for the most points scored in a game — when he was a senior, before the days of 3-point shots — and Feb. 19 the 1960 UDHS graduate was named Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School’s very own African-American hero.

Percy Herder, the head custodian at Thomas Fitzwater, was honored at an all-school assembly with a standing ovation, a video with tributes from staff and students, gifts from the PTO and staff and a print of his No. 34 UDHS Cardinal basketball jersey that will hang on the wall inside the school.

“He knows every student by name, all their birthdays, gives gifts to them. He teaches life lessons,” Thomas Fitzwater Principal Peter Alston said prior to the ceremony. “Every day he shows up and gives his best.

“I remember when I came for my interview,” the six-year veteran principal said, “he gave me a half-hour tour; showed me paint that was peeling, windows that needed to be replaced, said a certain wax was needed for the floors. The building is 53 years old and he makes it look like new.

“He’s the No. 1 mentor in the building. The people we put on the wall for Black History Month are great,” Alston said. “He’s a hero to me and everyone else. He cares about us … the things he does every day to make sure everybody is all right.”

On average, a teacher impacts 20-plus students a year, Alston said. He impacts 500 to 1,000 every year. [READ MORE HERE]

NOTE: MontgomeryNews.com chose to label Percy Herder as an “African-American Hero,” probably for Black Lives Really, Really Matter History Month. The Blower disagrees with such politically correct pandering. We don’t need Hyphenated Heroes in America—just people who represent what’s “Right With America.”