SSA Volunteers for a Cleaner Cafeteria
The humanist club of Dallastown is setting aside one day a week to help the custodians clean up the cafeteria after school.
The Cafeteria here at Dallastown is often littered with trash. The empty cafeteria from this corner portrays the room as gigantic. This large open space is a lot of work for Dallastown custodians to clean up on their own. Students hope to work together to make the school a cleaner place.
Do you ever find yourself ruining your shoes as you step in a puddle of grape juice walking into the cafeteria?
Do you ever sit down for study hall and your table is covered in last period’s trash?
Everyone at Dallastown experiences the dirtiness of the cafeteria everyday, and thankfully, there is finally something to counteract it.
The Secular Humanist Club has organized a way for Dallastown students to give back to the school, the custodians, and fellow students, all while earning volunteer hours.
Dallastown employees are always hard at work to make Dallastown a cleaner and more organized place. Sure everyone knows that the school has custodians to clean up after the students, but how much do you really know about them?
Students may have noticed a new face around the school this year; that face is Damon Randall. Previously working at Penn State York, Randall has been Dallastown’s head custodian since July of 2022.
The custodians are often overwhelmed with the amount of trash and debris from approximately 2000 students eating in the same room over just a short period of time–and to make matters worse, not everyone cleans up after themselves.
When both custodians were asked about the hardest part of cleaning the cafeteria at the end of the day–there was a clear unanimous decision: It’s definitely the floors.
“The state of the cafeteria at the end of the day; I would say is a HOT MESS,” Randall said in a recent interview.
With all the sticky residue and food trash, Renee Martin–Dallastown custodian of two years–describes the state of the cafeteria as “horrendous” by the time the students leave.
This is an obvious problem, and it goes further than just an inconvenience to students; it makes the jobs of the custodians needlessly difficult.
So where does SSA (A.K.A. the humanist club) come into play?
Club president Sage Bathgate explains their part in an in-depth interview regarding the initiative.
“As a group, we understand the issues of student disrespect/carelessness as well as understaffing. We thought that helping out the janitors would be a great act of humanism that may inspire our peers to follow suit.”
According to Bathgate, the Humanist club welcomes everyone to join in on Thursdays after school until 4:50 pm to help clean; April 13 is set to be the first day the group gets together.
What can volunteers expect?
“Students will help with things like sweeping, dry mopping, arranging tables/chairs, and picking up trash” Bathgate explains.
From the custodians to Dallastown students:
“Pick up all of your trash and throw it in the cans, and if there is a spill please let me know, that is why I am inside the cafeteria during lunch. Myself and Mrs. Renee who stands at the entrance of the cafeteria during lunch.” – Randall
“Please, respect the building environment. As a team effort everything can be [managed]” – Martin
From the custodians to those who choose to volunteer:
“Thank you very much, and your unselfish acts of trying to make the High School a cleaner place will not go unseen. The Custodial Department appreciates your efforts.” – Randall
“Welcome to the other side” – Martin
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