As if things couldn't get any weirder here I realized today that there are no janitors employed at my school. I guess i've been so caught up in attempting to figure out what my life is about that I never thought about how the whole school gets cleaned...until today. I was walking up the stairs with my co-worker and there were 3 boys scrapping at the stairs with razorblades, I thought "that's weird" and then it dawned on me.
The children are the janitors.
Everyday during 7th period the kids come into the teachers office and they sweep and mop the floor. They wash the windows and they dust the ledges. In the mornings they sweep and mop the floors inside and on the outer patio. Cleaning up their school is just part of their routine, it makes their school truly theirs. If they spit gum on the floor, they have to clean it up, simple really.
I have a bit of an inner conundrum about this situation, on the one hand I don't believe that the students are here to clean, they are here to learn and to grow into the young adults that they will be. But the other half of me says this is wonderful! In what other way can you take full responsibility for your space, your school than by cleaning it? By cleaning the stairs of gum you realize that you don't want to spit on them!
Ah, the little lessons.
Anyong!
Ah HA - this tidbit of information should be shared with your cousin Emirrie : ) Maybe they should put this into place at her school - kids as the janitors - what a marvelous idea!
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