The builder and his students

Deepa Bharath

“Bill the builder

Can you fix it?

Bill the builder

Yes you can!”

The fourth-grade students in Peggy Roberts’ class thumped their

desks and sang the song almost like a chant, their words echoing

across the school’s corridors.

In front of the Sonora Elementary School class, Bill Meister,

project superintendent for SMC Construction, sat on a desk with a

broad smile on his face as he listened to a personalized version of a

song from the “Bob the Builder” TV show -- almost an anthem of sorts

in the world of toddlers and preschoolers.

For the last eight months, Meister and his workers have been

rebuilding classrooms, restrooms and part of the playground as part

of Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Measure A construction.

It was time for students to say “thank you.” On Tuesday, the

students had a classroom party for Meister, complete with a chocolate

cake that said “Thank you Mr. Bill” and a hand-made book with thank

you notes from each of the students with their pictures. On the cover

of the book was a picture the entire class took with Meister.

“Group hug,” the kids yelled as they hurried toward Meister,

accosting him with their affectionate hugs. Meister, well over 6 feet

tall, laughed as the children hugged him.

The school, especially Roberts’ fourth-graders, has had a special

relationship with Meister and his workers, said principal Christine

Anderson.

“They’ve made themselves a part of our school family,” she said.

“Yes, it’s construction. It’s inconvenient. But these workers have

made the inconvenience minimal and the entire experience as pleasant

as possible.”

The construction crew would make special accommodations such as

stopping work when students gathered for the morning assembly.

“It’s an important thing for them to start their school day with

that,” Meister said. “It helps them start the day.”

The workers would also stop when the children were at recess,

especially if the work would kick up clouds of dust, Anderson said.

The entire construction crew has also been sensitive to the fact

that they are working with young children around, Anderson said.

“As a principal, when you think there’s going to be men on campus,

you wonder,” Anderson said. “These are men who are used to working

around adults. I was concerned if they would be mindful of their

language and behavior in front of the kids.”

That’s a valid concern, Meister said.

“Often times, every second word that comes out of these guys’

mouth is an obscenity,” he said.

But he laid down the ground rules even before they could begin

working on the project, Meister said.

“Every time I had a new subcontractor, I’d go through what I

expect from them in terms of language and keeping to the work areas,”

he said. “I would never put up with anyone who broke rules.”

Rare rapport

It’s tough to do a school project without incurring the wrath of

teachers at some point, but this one has been a pleasant surprise,

Meister said.

“It’s like Peggy Roberts’ class has adopted me,” he said. “When I

walk around, they wave and call out to me, ‘Hi, Mr. Bill.’ It’s a

real family feel and a lot of times, it doesn’t even seem like work.

You don’t normally see this kind of rapport. It’s rare.”

Roberts said her students wrote the notes to Meister from their

hearts.

“They really love the man,” she said. “They’d want him to stop by

when they’re giving speeches for class. They’d want him to come to

class on Pet Day when the kids brought in their pets. And he would

gladly stop by.”

And he always brought Roberts coffee. The kids loved it.

“That was so sweet of him,” Roberts said. “There was one time when

I asked him if he had any coffee, but he’d run out. Minutes later, he

walks back in with a fresh pot of coffee.”

Meister’s wife made the whole class Halloween bags with candy and

little trinkets, she said.

In return, Roberts would bring the workers coffee cakes every

week.

“It’s nice to do nice things for nice people,” she said.

On Tuesday, the children stood up one by one and thanked Meister

personally.

“I’ll miss you because you worked so hard to make our classroom

and our school look so nice,” Megan Estrada said.

Celestino Flores said he looked forward to just “seeing Mr. Bill

everyday.”

“He’s like a dad to us,” he said. “I want to be like him some day,

work like him and build stuff for people.”

A picture saved

Cassidy Betts said she enjoyed making the book for him. In her

letter to Meister, she wrote: “Thank you for everything you guys did

for the school. You made all of the classrooms look so nice ... Mrs.

Roberts said you are there on the weekend. I don’t think I could

stand not having a day off on the weekend.”

Meister would also help with other things that are not even close

to being part of his job, Anderson said.

“He saved Picture Day for us,” she said. “The teachers panicked

when the kids were all lined up for the pictures and the lights went

out.”

Could Mr.Bill fix it? Yes he could. And he did.

“Oh, it was nothing,” he said. “Just a little something to do with

a circuit breaker.”

First-grade teacher Sue McVeigh, whose classroom is across from

Roberts’ also experienced Meister’s random acts of kindness.

“During the weekends, I’d bring my dogs in and he’d actually play

with them as I got my work done,” she said. “He could throw the ball

much farther than I could, so he wore them down pretty quickly.”

Roberts’ class also gave Meister a ceramic mug with a picture of

the class printed on it.

“I remember that picture,” he said. “It’s over by those cupboards

there.”

“We’ll miss you Mr. Bill,” said Herlandy Ramirez.

Meister paused for a second and replied: “I’ll miss you guys,

too.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or by e-mail at

deepa.bharath@latimes.com.