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Rose custodians often taken for granted
MON. | 11-08-21 | FEATURES
Custodians play an important part at Rose. They are in charge of keeping this school safe and clean. They treat this place with love and care as if it was their home. Few people really stop and take the time to think about how hard and important their job as a custodian is.
So why is the job of a custodian so important?
Custodians are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of this school. They make sure the school is nice, fresh and clean for the students and staff. They make sure the school is always presentable as if it was their own home.
For 18 years, Sheldon Taylor has been a custodian at Rose. He has held the position of head custodian for the last nine years, and to him, this job is much more than just being a custodian.
“It gives me an opportunity to reach young kids and show them that there is a future because most times when you come here, you’ve got kids that have problems,” Taylor said. “I want to lift them up and let them know that they are somebody.”
However, it is easy to take these custodians for granted and disregard the hard work that they have put in to keep the school clean when students do things like throw trash everywhere and not picking up after themselves.
Vandalism is a current problem going on at Rose right now.
Photo by Darren Powell
“One of the only issues we are facing right now is pretty much the kids writing, vandalism, and things like that inside the bathrooms.
Some popular trends are making these vandalism issues even more difficult for the custodians.
The most recent “Devious Lick” trend on TikTok involves people stealing items from school bathrooms such as soap dispensers, toilet paper rolls and even stall doors. This trend is being followed by a large number of students, with one of the many hashtags for this trend having up to 197 million views.
Unfortunately, Taylor and other custodians have been noticing many bathroom supplies stolen from multiple bathrooms across the school as a result of some students participating in this trend.
“We’re going in and stocking bathrooms with soap, paper towels and toilet tissue to come to find out before the day is over or the next morning that those items are taken out or thrown into the toilets, so it’s very difficult,” Taylor said.
The students responsible for these acts not only bring difficulties to the custodians, but they also waste money. Custodians have to constantly go back and replace broken and stolen dispensers or items right after they restock them that morning. Not only is it unfair to the custodians, it is also unfair to the taxpayers whose money goes into needed supplies like that.
However, with the many issues that may come with being a custodian, there are also good sides that come with it. Taylor says that one of the best parts of it is the family atmosphere.
“We have difficult days because we are human, but most of all it’s just the family atmosphere,” Taylor said.
