Custodians: do they get the appreciation they deserve?

Our custodians. What do you know about them? What do you think about them? Do you know much about them? That is what we should find out today.

I will tell you some things about the custodians, and hopefully, you will see if they get the appreciation they deserve. First, we interviewed some school students to see their opinions and differences. Then, we interviewed a seventh-grade student, Klara Dannenbergs.

"The custodian's job is to clean, but we can do our part. In science, I had a friend who said, "isn't it the cleaner's job to clean this classroom?" And I said well, we can do our part. Every day, I see the custodians cleaning the stairs, and I feel bad about stepping on their work. Some people don't care to clean their space that the cleaners spend so much time on. After a day at school, the building is left terribly, and the lockers are a complete mess. Our school would fall apart if the cleaners were gone for a day. If you see a teacher, you will say hi, but if you see a custodian, you will look at them because most people don't know their names, and I feel like people should know their names like I don't even know their names, and I feel like that would make them feel very nice if we just knew their names and knew of them as a person."

“The custodians job is to clean, but we can do our part.”

-Klara Dannenbergs

Next, We interviewed another seventh-grade student, Oliver McLaughlin.

"I don't know each of the custodians' personal information, but I have seen, that they have not been treated well, At lunch, people will be messy with it and dump their food, and people don't seem to care. And the custodians normally clean during lessons, but when they get out, the kids will make it dirty again and be very disrespectful. After a day at school, the building is left badly, and I try to clean my belongings, but everyone else has stuff all around. I don't know many of the custodians, but I do know some of their names, which I hope others can do, too."

Finally, seventh-grader Sarah Paul agrees, "The custodians in our school are not treated well. People know that people are cleaning up after them and helping clean the school, but they don't really know who they are, and I don't know them either. I am aware that they are here and they are not very treated well, but I don't know them myself. Almost everyone in this school probably doesn't know who the custodians are and don't respect them. I congratulate them because they are doing a big thing for our school. A day without the custodians won't work. They should be introduced more to the schools and students. There are so many custodians, and they don't get the recognition they deserve."

Based on what we have heard from these three students, we can tell that they all think the custodians don't get enough appreciation. After seeing the students' opinions, I want to show you a custodian and things about him.

This is William

This is William Adjei.

He is originally from Ghana and moved here when he was seventeen. He has a wife named Cathy and two kids, Stephen, eighteen years old, and Dylan, eight. He has been working here for seven years and started in march 2016. He loves his job, and William is the football coach for JV in the upper school and a coach for the golf team. Maybe when you see William, say hi, or say something to bring him out a bit.

I hope I could have given you a good idea of the custodian’s life and brought some of them to life for you guys. I hope this could get you to where you can know more about them and say hi to them. Where they can feel recognized and, you know, appreciated.