Consider the aftermath of a busy lunch period: school trays piled like a tower with uneaten food, drinks spilled on tables and trash scattered across campus. For custodians, this familiar sight is their daily reality. While students return to their classrooms, oblivious to the mess they have just left, the custodians are left to mop floors, wipe tables and collect trash that’s carelessly abandoned. It’s a never-ending cycle. Yet, the mess they clean up daily is more than just food and litter; it’s a reflection of a larger issue: how rarely they are acknowledged by the very students they serve.
Custodians are the backbone of Coral Gables Senior High. Yet, in the eyes of the students, they only remain as people not truly noticed from a peripheral vision. They are the first to respond to maintenance issues, ensuring classrooms are functional. They prevent the spread of illness and work long hours to maintain the infrastructure of the school so that students and staff can focus on learning. Their contributions are significant but only noticed when something goes wrong—a spill in the hallways, a broken pipe or a dirty restroom.
“A lot of people don’t realize the disrespect some custodians face every day and how tiring the job can be. They are not necessarily paid enough and on our part, we should make them feel seen. Without them, we would run into a lot of issues in terms of behavior and the way the environment of the school would be. I think the student body at Gables should take a bigger action against the growing problem,” sophomore Abigail Betancourt said.
However, the issue is not just about a lack of recognition; it’s about the culture of indifference that allows students to leave behind a mess with no thought for the people who clean it. Students complain when the hallways or bathrooms are dirty, but rarely do they reflect on the role they play in contributing to that mess. There is an ease in which people dismiss the labor of those who maintain their spaces, as if cleanliness is something expected every day.
“To me, cleaning is not an obstacle like most think. Yes, it is time-consuming, but I know there is a greater purpose for doing this. I do think that students should be mindful of how they take care of their surroundings, because I know for a fact that they don’t act like this at home. Even then, it does bring me gratitude when I see students doing the smallest tasks of just throwing items in the trash can. It shows me that there are some raised correctly,” custodian Maritza Lago said.
The issue of the question lies in the dysfunctionality in which students become free from parental consequences onto the custodian through delaying work time. Simply, picking up trash after lunch or grabbing something on the way can save custodians from collecting as much as 3,000 fewer pieces of garbage.
“I began working as a custodian in 2001 and during those 13 years, I have loved my job. Even though some students may not believe this, I feel like a second mother protecting these students during the school day. While I tend to be strong at [students], I don’t do it in a mean way; I do it to make students become someone in the future. If we can all pour at least a grain of sand into the school environment, it can show a unity of us being Cavaliers, and that’s something that would make me really proud. Unity,” custodian Yaneth Gonzalez said.
For change to happen, it is not enough to simply recognize the custodians’ efforts on special occasions such as Custodian Appreciation Day. Simple gestures, like saying thank you or offering a smile, can go a long way in bridging the gap between custodians and the rest of the school. But more importantly, the school community as a whole needs to foster a culture of respect, one where custodians are seen as essential members of the school, rather than invisible workers who fade into the background.
