Editorial: Custodians deserve more appreciation for response to ‘Devious Licks’

Staff shows gratitude to staff on Custodian Appreciation Day

Alyssa Clark

In a digitally-constructed image from Canva created by senior writer Alyssa Clark, the date of Custodian Appreciation Day is shown. Custodians help clean up the school, refill the bathroom with paper towels, clean out the trash cans and more. Custodian Appreciation Day occurs every year on the same day.

Spraying down the lunch tables, the custodians sit idly, waiting until the next lunch ends, before the cycle begins all over again. On Oct. 2, schools around the world took the time to appreciate their custodial staff. For Prosper, the district will do the same Wednesday, Oct. 6. The school’s custodians work endless hours to clean our school and to keep it nice. Especially in the past few years with COVID-19 and the ‘devious licks‘ trend, our custodians consistently work hard — and all without recognition.

Custodians deserve more appreciation.

The custodial staff of nine work extraneous hours to make our school look as fantastic as possible. By constantly picking up after students at lunch, to mopping and cleaning the floors during the smallest spill, they always clean up the messes created during school.

The ‘devious licks’ trend that went viral had a big impact on the school, and the custodians faced the brunt of this. Reporting stolen items and working around ways to disinfect the bathrooms were things that custodians went out of their way to do, all to keep students safe and healthy.

The graffiti written in bathroom stalls keeps our custodians away from keeping the rest of the school looking clean. Only three custodians work the day shift, and the other six work in the afternoon and night. Each shift was around eight to nine hours, and can go longer than a full work day.

It doesn’t matter that custodians get paid to clean up things at the school — every student needs to be aware of their trash and their mark on the school. Custodians shouldn’t be picking up the trash of every high school student; they have other tasks and jobs to get done. It’s not hard to pick up empty bottles and plates at lunch, and minimize how dirty the bathrooms are by just being conscious of the things people are using. Even the littlest things count, and it’s an easy way to show some appreciation of their time.

This Custodian Appreciation Day, take the time to say thank you to your custodians, pick up your trash or give them a smile. No token of appreciation is too small.