Chloe Rippe
Reporter
NCHS students are accustomed to seeing a mess in the cafeteria during the lunch period. Students from all three lunch cycles leave their lunches and garbage on the table, accumulating a giant pile of trash that makes it almost impossible to eat. Some students claim that it’s hard to even sit at a clean spot without avoiding puddles of juice or half eaten sandwiches. In response to this mess, Student Coalition (StuCo) has begun to look for solutions to the problem, though some believe there’s still a lot of work to be done to improve conditions in the lounge.
Now that StuCo has launched their New Year’s “Keep it Clean 2013” resolution, they are optimistic that students will continue working to keep the lounge clean. Senior Molly James, vice president of StuCo, said the club is going to continue playing music at the end of every lunch block to encourage cleaning. “Because of the positive response from the student body, we’ll play some music Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for the next couple of weeks,” she said.
StuCo has also been putting up “Keep it Clean 2013” poster throughout the school to remind students to maintain the resolution. According to StuCo faculty chair, Priscilla Schulz, StuCo is working on a time lapse video of the lounge clean up, so students can see their overall progress. “We took a time lapse video, and hopefully when students watch it, they’ll see the mess, and be more eager to help clean,” Ms. Schulz said.
Though StuCo has been active in their cleanup efforts, the club still wants to see more improvement. Student Body President, senior Will Hennessy, who has been working with Ms. Schulz and Molly on these projects, thinks that there is still need for spreading awareness. “So far we’ve seen some progress, but not as much as we’d like,” he said.
Juan Ochoa, a custodian at NCHS and Union President of Custodians and Maintenance, also sees room for improvement. “Every year it’s the same, awful mess,” he said. “Some kids are just too lazy to get their garbage from the table to the trash can. If everyone does their part and throws out their trash, the cafeteria will be much better.”
Ms. Schulz agrees that students need to be more aware of keeping the cafeteria clean. “They don’t understand that custodians are for the wear and tear stuff, and not for cleaning up after each and every student.”
StuCo is the first to admit that the situation isn’t perfect, but they remain hopeful for the future and are relying on the student body to help make the change. “It’s our school, and the students who go here take pride in their education and their environment,” StuCo Advisor Kim Palmer said. “The more aware the students are, the better decisions they will make.”
