25 SUPPLEMENT February 2011 www.thewestwordonline.com Chris Vitti The Westword: How much time do you usually spend cleaning Westhill? Chris Vitti: Eight hours a day. TW: How do you feel about the students’ treatment of the school? CV: The majority of the kids are all right. But there’s al- ways a group who vandalizes and destroys the school. TW: What do you think about the way the students leave the bathrooms? CV: Students don’t clean up after themselves. It can be frustrating. TW: Do you think the students appreciate your work? AC: A good percentage do. TW: When is your shift and what do you clean? AC: My shift is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. I clean the 200s. We’ve re- cently been getting more graffiti in the 200s. The majority of [the problem] is food though. Food is all over the place. Kids even eat in the bathrooms. TW: Do you think the problem is the size of Westhill? CV: It’s a big school with a lot of kids. So there is going to be more vandalism and more garbage. Revie Catchings The Westword: How much time do you usually spend cleaning Westhill? Revie Catchings : We all [clean] at least seven hours a day, and there are 15 of us [plus one pool maintenance worker]. TW: How often are the bath- rooms cleaned? RC: Usually twice during a day, and then once at night for a final clean, so two to three times a day. TW: How hard would you con- sider your job? RC: It’s not hard, because this is what I signed up for, to clean. TW: How do you think the stu- dents treat to school? RC: It can be better; the students leave too much garbage and food on the floor. The food shouldn’t be leaving the cafeteria, because we have to then clean up their mess. These are high school students, not elementary stu- dents. They have to learn to pick up after themselves. TW: What should be done about it? RC: They should learn how to pick up after themselves and that they shouldn’t leave all their trash on the floors. They shouldn’t spit on the walls, floors, and bathroom handles, or go to the bathroom on the floors. Students caught should be punished be- sides community service, because they’re not babies; they’re young adults. TW: Do you think that the stu- dents appreciate your work? RC: I can’t say no, and I can’t say yes. It’s half and half. Those who do [appreciate our work] are the ones who don’t spit on the walls and windows. Gabby Frieser Copy Editor It is not uncommon to see gar- bage and filth in the halls of the school. Students might say the custodians are at fault; however, our custodians tell a different story. “For the most part, the kids are good, but there are some who use the floor as a trash can and stair- wells as the cafeteria. When you go [in the courtyard] to pick it up, we’ll get 1½ to two barrels of gar- bage,” an anonymous custodian said. Head Custodian Carlo Buccino said, “Kids have to help us keep the school a little cleaner.” To reduce the amount of trash in the halls, garbage and recycling bins have been placed in each classroom in addition to barrels in the courtyard and in many hallways. Floors and bathrooms are swept and mopped every day, follow- ing the Connecticut Public Health Code, once at 10 a.m. and again after school lets out. The cleanli- ness of our bathrooms is a major concern for students. Senior Judy Juarez said, “People stuff a lot of the paper towels in the sink, which makes it unclean. I just think they need to be cleaned more often.” Cleaners that are environmen- tally friendly are now being used to eradicate all germs throughout the school. “Starting this year, as of September 2010, we switched over to all green cleaning products, which will be mandated by law as of October 2011. You won’t be able to use chemicals anymore,” Mr. Buc- cino said. These hospital strength cleaners range from disinfectants to floor cleaners to waxes and finishes and are purchased by the city. The sheer size of the school prevents every square inch from being completely clean all of the time. Westhill is the fifth largest school in Connecticut, encompass- ing 445,850 square feet. “With [only] 16 custodians, that’s a lot of ground to cover,” Mr. Buccino said. Because of this, jobs such as polishing the floors are done on a rotating schedule. Also due to the limited number of custodians, some areas don’t get cleaned as often. For instance, desks are only cleaned annually. The first shift of seven cus- todians works throughout the school day, cleaning the cafeteria, courtyard, hallways, and student bathrooms. They also take care of emergencies such as clogged toi- lets and spills. The second shift, beginning at 2 p.m., cleans what is remaining from the first shift as well as common areas like the Me- dia Center and Career Center. This shift also removes the occasional graffiti after school hours. “I think that it is really unfor- tunate that students here think it’s okay to make a mess out of the school by doing things like leaving paper towels in the sink and spill- ing things without cleaning them up or taking responsibility for it. Because at the end of the day, it’s the custodians who have to clean it up, which is unfair,” senior Ana- belle Uy said. Keeping up with the custodians Interview by Jada Daley / Staff Writer The Westword interviewed custodians Chris Vitti and Revie Catchings to learn what it’s like to be a custodian at Westhill, what their everyday responsibilities are, and how they feel about student treatment of facilities. Lauren Pollack / Photo Editor CLEAN SWEEP Custodial closets are equipped with the supplies necessary to keep our school clean. The custodians work during and after school in two shifts. Katie Zabronsky / Managing Editor Hours of effort put into daily school cleaning
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Gabby Frieser Interview by Jada Daley / Staff Writer www.thewestwordonline.com the bathrooms. TW: Do you think the problem is the size of Westhill? CV: It’s a big school with a lot of kids. So there is going to be more vandalism and more garbage. Lauren Pollack / Photo Editor Copy Editor
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25Supplement February 2011www.thewestwordonline.com
Chris VittiThe Westword: How much time do you usually spend cleaning Westhill?Chris Vitti: eight hours a day.TW: How do you feel about the students’ treatment of the school?CV: the majority of the kids are all right. But there’s al-ways a group who vandalizes and destroys the school.
TW: What do you think about the way the students leave the
bathrooms?CV: Students don’t clean up after themselves. It can be frustrating. TW: Do you think the students appreciate your work?AC: A good percentage do.TW: When is your shift and what do you clean?AC: my shift is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. I clean the 200s. We’ve re-cently been getting more graffiti in the 200s. the majority of [the problem] is food though. Food is all over the place. Kids even eat in
the bathrooms. TW: Do you think the problem is the size of Westhill?CV: It’s a big school with a lot of kids. So there is going to be more vandalism and more garbage.
Revie CatchingsThe Westword: How much time do you usually spend cleaning Westhill? Revie Catchings : We all [clean] at least seven hours a day, and there are 15 of us [plus one pool maintenance worker].TW: How often are the bath-rooms cleaned?RC: usually twice during a day, and then once at night for a final clean, so two to three times a day.TW: How hard would you con-sider your job?RC: It’s not hard, because this is what I signed up for, to clean.TW: How do you think the stu-dents treat to school?RC: It can be better; the students leave too much garbage and food
on the floor. The food shouldn’t be leaving the cafeteria, because we have to then clean up their mess. these are high school students, not elementary stu-dents. they have to learn to pick up after themselves.TW: What should be done about it?RC: they should learn how to pick up after themselves and that they shouldn’t leave all their trash on the floors. They shouldn’t spit on the walls, floors, and bathroom handles, or go to the bathroom on the floors. Students caught should be punished be-sides community service, because they’re not babies; they’re young adults.TW: Do you think that the stu-dents appreciate your work?RC: I can’t say no, and I can’t say yes. It’s half and half. those who do [appreciate our work] are the ones who don’t spit on the walls and windows.
Gabby FrieserCopy Editor
It is not uncommon to see gar-bage and filth in the halls of the school. Students might say the custodians are at fault; however, our custodians tell a different story. “For the most part, the kids are good, but there are some who use the floor as a trash can and stair-wells as the cafeteria. When you go [in the courtyard] to pick it up, we’ll get 1½ to two barrels of gar-bage,” an anonymous custodian said.
Head Custodian Carlo Buccino said, “Kids have to help us keep the school a little cleaner.” to reduce the amount of trash in the halls, garbage and recycling bins have been placed in each classroom in addition to barrels in the courtyard and in many hallways.
Floors and bathrooms are swept and mopped every day, follow-ing the Connecticut public Health Code, once at 10 a.m. and again after school lets out. the cleanli-
ness of our bathrooms is a major concern for students. Senior Judy Juarez said, “people stuff a lot of the paper towels in the sink, which makes it unclean. I just think they need to be cleaned more often.”
Cleaners that are environmen-tally friendly are now being used to eradicate all germs throughout the school. “Starting this year, as of September 2010, we switched over to all green cleaning products, which will be mandated by law as of October 2011. You won’t be able to use chemicals anymore,” mr. Buc-cino said. these hospital strength cleaners range from disinfectants to floor cleaners to waxes and finishes and are purchased by the city.
the sheer size of the school prevents every square inch from being completely clean all of the time. Westhill is the fifth largest school in Connecticut, encompass-ing 445,850 square feet. “With [only] 16 custodians, that’s a lot of ground to cover,” mr. Buccino said. Because of this, jobs such as polishing the floors are done on
a rotating schedule. Also due to the limited number of custodians, some areas don’t get cleaned as often. For instance, desks are only cleaned annually.
The first shift of seven cus-todians works throughout the school day, cleaning the cafeteria, courtyard, hallways, and student bathrooms. they also take care of emergencies such as clogged toi-lets and spills. the second shift, beginning at 2 p.m., cleans what is remaining from the first shift as well as common areas like the me-dia Center and Career Center. this shift also removes the occasional graffiti after school hours.
“I think that it is really unfor-tunate that students here think it’s okay to make a mess out of the school by doing things like leaving paper towels in the sink and spill-ing things without cleaning them up or taking responsibility for it. Because at the end of the day, it’s the custodians who have to clean it up, which is unfair,” senior Ana-belle uy said.
Keeping up with the custodians
Interview by Jada Daley / Staff Writer
The Westword interviewed custodians Chris Vitti and Revie Catchings to learn what it’s like to be a custodian at Westhill, what their everyday responsibilities are, and how they feel about
student treatment of facilities.
Lauren Pollack / Photo EditorCLean sweeP Custodial closets are equipped with the supplies necessary to keep our school clean. The custodians work during and after school in two shifts.
Katie Zabronsky / Managing Editor
Hours of effort put into daily school cleaning