Waterford ― Last week, William “Mr. Billy” Krajewski got put in timeout.

Not a real timeout, of course ― Krajewski had done nothing wrong. But after a kindergarten student in a pink coat and sunglasses had given the 30-year-custodian her lunch tray, she grabbed Krajewski by the arm and stuck him “in jail” in the corner of the Quaker Hill Elementary School cafeteria.

As the 61-year-old New London resident returned to work last week after a vacation, he did so as one of the nation’s top custodians. Last month, it was announced he was among the top 10 finalists in a nationwide custodian competition hosted annually by CINTAS, a company which provides custodial services as well as uniforms and supplies.

Krajewski, who’d been shocked when the school and CINTAS announced he’d made the final 10 ― who’ll get a shot at a trip to Las Vegas and $10,000 ― showed up to work Tuesday as he usually does, with a smile and a pair of blue nitrile gloves.

“These guys keep me laughing,” he said. “They keep me smiling and laughing. I just try to return the favor.”

Of the 30 years he’s worked in Waterford schools, Krajewski spent nine-and-a-half at Clark Lane Middle School and eight at the high school. His longest tenure by far has been at Quaker Hill Elementary School.

“This is my niche,” he said. “I found it.”

When the kindergartener in the pink coat and more than 30 others in her same lunch wave had lined up to hand Krajewski their half-empty trays of mashed potatoes, corn and chicken nuggets, he banged them on the side of a garbage can and placed them in a window to be washed.

“Today was a good day,” Krajewski said. “Certain days with rice it gets really messy.”

Another moseyed up to him with a mashed potato-smeared lunch tray.

“This one ― we call him the painter,” the custodian joked. “Because he always paints his tray.”

Taking lunch trays is far from the only thing Krajewski does in a lunch period at Quaker Hill, of which there are six with only about a minute in between for him to wash down the tables and sweep the floor.

Students came up to Krajewski with jokes or to ask him if they can be his helpers to clean up. If they do help, they’ll earn them a “gem,” and with enough of those the whole school gets extended recess. At the end of the lunch period, Krajewski took a handful of students and announced their jokes in front of their classmates.

“I apologize ahead to the aides, because they’re trying to keep ’em quiet and I’m riling ’em up,” he said.

With the first-graders coming in a minute, Cook Manager Melissa Lambert readied trays of food for the students. Lambert, who’s worked in the kitchen at Quaker Hill for the last 14 years, says mornings in the cafeteria usually involve Krajewski, herself and the students. The two staffers have 10 to 15 minutes to get all the kids their breakfast for the day.

“All the kids, they just come in the morning, and he just gets them all static for the day,” Lambert said. “We serve like 120 kids, and just, Billy with his great attitude, he just gets them all in and out. So he totally deserves this. Absolutely.”

Work, naturally, can be tedious, Krajewski said. But he, Lambert, the aides and paraprofessionals try to make it fun too.

“You know, you don’t have to be serious,” Krajewski said. “You’ve got to get the job done ― nobody said you’ve gotta be totally serious. That’s no fun. It’s no fun growing up sometimes, you know?”

“So I try to tell these kids, you know, keep your sense of humor.”

School board Chairwoman Pat Fedor, presenting a certificate to Krajewski for his top 10 placement, told a story from when she visited Quaker Hill last year to lunch with students on field day. She remembered seeing Krajewski throwing a garbage bag high into the air.

On students’ birthdays, one of Krajewski’s signature moves is to take a garbage bag, swing it around wildly so its full of air and toss it as high as he can, straight up so that it descends gently onto students’ heads.

“And the kids at my table where saying, ‘Oh. That’s Mr. Billy. He does that for all of us,’ “ Fedor recalled at the meeting. “And they just spoke with such high regard and love for you. And it was evident.”

“When we talk about curriculum or food choices or all kinds of things in the district, we have to remember that the kids are always watching,” she said.

Patting Krajewski on the shoulder, Fedor told administrators, students and fellow board members the kids are “getting a great show.”

“Top three would be Vegas ― It’d be nice to go to Vegas. Top one would be awesome, but you know what, I feel like I already won, seeing all the support and everything. It’s definitely humbling,” Krajewski said.

Anyone who wishes to cast a vote for Krajewski through April 12 can do so at https://www.custodianoftheyear.com/submissions-2024/

d.drainville@theday.com