Earth Day Exclusive: Cleaning up the Courtyard
By Juan Villanueva |
Empty bottles, milk spills, trays, and napkins are only a few of many leftovers one can find on our campus’ courtyard.
Trash left on ground during D lunch. Photo by Juan Villanueva.
Students not disposing of trash properly requires more time for workers to pick up trash.
On a daily basis, it takes custodians one to one and a half hours to pick up trash from both the picnic area and the courtyard in the afternoon, and special education students help in their seventh period as well.
“It’s a big problem, kids should know to throw trash in trashcans,” Lead Custodian Hector Prieto said.
According to custodians, B and C lunch are the dirtiest lunches, not because of specific students, but because of the amount of students in those lunches.
Daily, including all four lunch periods, from 1700 to 1800 lunches are served.
On the other hand, the trash found after breakfast is not many compared to leftovers left after lunch since only about 500 to 600 students are severed breakfast daily.
Students leaving garbage in the courtyard not only causes extra work, but also can leave a bad impression for visitors.
“If people take a few seconds to throw trash where it goes, it would make Roosevelt much cleaner,” Assistant Principal Donald Pittman said.
With about 30 garbage cans found in the courtyard, students have more than enough places to dispose of trash properly. With April 22 being Earth day, it’s a chance for students to make a difference for the overall health of the school, and the earth.
“Dirty is not something that is good,” Science Teacher Christopher Akumfi said. “Keeping our campus clean will get us good breathing air, trash causes germs that contribute to our sicknesses.”