Marriott’s Ridge’s janitor and custodial team are a vital part of maintaining the school’s daily operations, nourishing the ecosystem of the school building. To appreciate the important, and often overlooked maintenance and janitorial staff, displaying respect and being mindful of school spaces is a piece of the puzzle that comes with helping the school overall.
Especially during lunch shifts, the janitorial staff have a great deal to do. Often, students leave crumbs and an abundance trash behind. Though trash is just a byproduct of a meal, some students are excessive in spreading waste, and do not pick up after themselves.
“Getting their trays off the table and not putting trash on the floor when they eat would help a lot,” said janitor May Lunns.
What Lunns speaks to is the issue of students not picking up after themselves. Though a big part of the job of custodial work is to clean, leaving behind extra food waste is disrespectful. When students leave copious amounts of trash behind, this only makes the job harder for staff.
“Students can learn to pick up after themselves after they eat. I think that’s a big responsibility,” recommended sophomore Afsar Basha.
By observing their custodial staff, students can learn the important life skill of cleaning. They set an excellent example for the important life skill of cleaning that can even be taken outside of school, and help later in life. Cleaning is a major life skill, and picking up after oneself can go a long way.
“The hardest part about my job is going in the bathroom after I just cleaned it and somebody leaves a mess,” stated Lunn.
Janitors don’t only clean up the school, they also do lots of maintenance. Lately, many bathrooms have been closed across the school due to students damaging toilets and leaving copious amounts of trash behind. The people that have to deal with this discourtesy are the janitors. When using the bathroom, students should use it as normal, and throw away their waste in the designated trash bins. Items that are not meant to be flushed should stay that way. These are tasks that the custodial staff have to go out of their way to mitigate, instead of focusing on the general upkeep of the school. This not only makes the job harder for our staff, but also for students who have to search multiple floors to find an open bathroom.
“[Janitors] clean up our school and our school would be nothing without them. I think it’s really important to them that we just go over to them and say how much we appreciate them,” said Basha.
Not only should students feel encouraged to pick up after themselves, but to also go out of their way to make sure Marriott’s Ridge’s janitorial staff feel appreciated is important. Often, janitors have to deal with the grossest and harshest parts of the school building, so students shouldn’t take their physical labor for granted. Though to many the custodial staff fades into the background of their everyday lives, it would be a positive message for students to verbally thank their custodians.
Custodians and janitors create an environment at school that is optimal for learning and socialization. Without them, the building would be harsh to navigate, and so many more people would get sick. Showing appreciation to janitors and custodians by keeping the school clean and thanking them will help create a positive environment at Marriotts Ridge.