Stacie Fronk was born and raised in Worland. So were her two children and six grandchildren, all of which graduated from Worland High School, where Fronk worked for 18 years until her retirement last December.

Fronk started out in the kitchen at Worland Middle School in 2001, moved to West Side Elementary School that fall, then went on to become high school custodian in 2005, 21 total years of service. "The graduating Class of 2023 was born the year I started at the high school," Fronk pointed out. "I just thought that was weird, made me feel old."

All six of Fronk's grandchildren saw their grandma in the hallways when they went to school, and she would leave them birthday presents and surprises in their lockers. "It was really neat," Fronk smiled. "My middle granddaughter graduated in 2020, and so they had the COVID graduation where it was just one person at a time. I got to stand in the back of the gym and watch where other people couldn't do that because [the graduates] could invite four people ... her folks and brother and sister were there. So I stood back of the gym and I got to watch that."

She set up and tore down each of her grandchildren's graduation ceremonies, picking up the silly string sprayed with their cap tosses. Her biggest mess though, was always the gym after tournaments. "The popcorn is horrible," Fronk said. "When I was in school, you didn't have anything in the gym. If you had food or drink or anything, you were in the lunchroom. And it must have been so easy to clean then."

Fronk's favorite part of her job was building relationships with the students. "A lot of the times the kids come to you," she said. "It's the kid you see in the hall all the time that they get to know you and you get to know them."

Seeing former students return with kids of their own was a fun part of the job. Fronk fondly remembered Aaron Dacus, who came back three or four years after his graduation just to say hi.

She also reflected on her early mentor Dianne Hazen, who had already worked for the school for 20 years when Fronk started. "She took me under her wing, and helped me and she retired after four years, so I missed her."

"I miss the people I worked with ... I miss the students and the kids that I worked with because there was always something going on. It never got boring."

Fronk said that at 71, she should have retired a long time ago, but was scared she would get bored. "So far I haven't," she reported. She has been keeping busy by taking strolls, something she never had time for before, and admitted she has a bit of a Candy Crush obsession to keep her entertained.

A Worlandite through and through, Fronk said she never had a desire to go anywhere else. "When I was a kid, I thought the place was boring. My kids thought the place was boring. My grandkids [did too,] but it's a good place to raise kids," she said.

"There's not a whole lot of trouble for them to get into, and it's safe. It's not like a city where you've got to worry every time your kids go out the door," Fronk added.

Fronk's parting words of advice for the students she has gotten to know over the years, "Study, make sure you finish school and go to college. And then you don't have to clean up anybody's mess," she laughed.