Many see him driving a yellow cart around campus, but very few know who he is. Jose Hernandez, a resident of San Jose, and is one of the custodians here at Los Altos.

Hernandez has seen the school change during his seventeen years at Los Altos. One of these changes was to the campus layout, which he says made, “The school look better It now looks new.”

During his time at Los Altos, Hernandez also remembers the 1998 tornado which struck Los Altos and landed directly through the quad, ripping up trees, roofs, and moving cars. The tornado was ranked an F1 on the Fujita Scale and tore up some buildings and portables as well as the fields and tennis courts.

“My friend Eddie parked his car near the portables and the hard wind pushed it all the way to the fence,” Hernandez said. “The car got swept up and pushed into the dugout on the softball field.”

Hernandez is does not just remember events at school, however. He was also an avid baseball player, playing in Mexico until 1972 before he moved to California where he continued to play baseball as a catcher. He also enjoys watching the local sports teams and when asked what he would be that if he could be anything he said he wished to be a professional baseball player. Hernandez enjoys watching professional football.

“My favorite team is the 49ers,” Hernandez said. “Sunday [January 19th] was so disappointing when they lost to Seattle.”

When he is not catching up on the recent sports news you can find him helping his fellow co-workers and friends or fixing something around the house. This is so he can make time for his family whom he visits often, especially his nieces and nephews. He has learned during his time at Los Altos how to make his part of the job most effective and in the quickest possible manner.

“I like everything, I enjoy all of the parts of my job, All of it,” Hernandez said. “The students are nice. The people that work here are nice. Everything is nice when everybody works together.”