Students flanked the crumb-ridden halls outside the cafeterias, eating and talking with friends last year. Now, where crowds once gathered, not a single wrapper hits the floor and the sound of chewing is muffled behind glass doors. When students try to bring food outside, they are stopped by a member of the security team or by signs urging students to keep their food in the designated space to eat.

Students were leaving garbage, messes, spills, and food throughout the hallways and not cleaning up after themselves, Principal Dr. Barbara Georges said. Spills were damaging carpets, walls, and other surfaces, Georges added.

The lack of food outside the cafeteria is a long-standing rule, but is being practiced again to keep the building clean and safe, Georges said. If we do not respect our spaces, we cannot benefit from having food around the
school.

Although it may seem like a pain to always eat in the cafeteria, it is essential to the well-being of our building. Students should stick to eating in the cafeteria, pick up their trash, and clean up any messes that they make to keep our spaces clean and welcoming.

With new renovations at South, including newly refurbished bathrooms, we need to preserve our spaces to keep our refreshed environment clean. The new renovations were costly, all a part of the $150 million renovation master facility plan that encompasses 1.3 million square feet, four buildings, and 120 acres of campus across the district, Lauren Bonner, Assistant Superintendent of Operations and Student Experiences, said on Glenbrook Insights, Superintendent Dr. R.J. Gravel’s podcast. Immediately getting those spaces dirty with crumbs or spills ruins the purpose of renewing our facilities.

Even small acts of putting your trash in the garbage, not leaving crumbs or food at your table, reporting spills, and picking up garbage, even if it is not yours, immensely helps the preservation of our building. These small acts add up quickly into a large movement to respect our facilities.

We spend over seven hours a day here, five days a week. Our days are spent walking these halls, sitting in these classrooms, and using these bathrooms. It should not be solely the custodian’s responsibility to take care of the building, but ours as well.