Student Assembly hung up posters around Staples in the middle of September to encourage students to help maintain a clean school environment.

The signs, placed throughout the hallways and in each bathroom, ask students and staff to report any facility maintenance issues, such as a toilet being out of order, spills, messes, graffiti or other issues that detract from the physical condition of the school.

“Overall, the idea for the Take Pride in Your School poster came about last year at our Student Assembly meetings,” Student Assembly advisor Jamie Pacuk said. “We realized that there needed to be a way for students to quickly report something that needs to be fixed, so that it could be taken care of.”

Because Staples facilities are also used for extracurricular activities, there is a lot of foot traffic coming in and out the building, which makes it difficult to maintain cleanliness.

“One of the doors [in the bathroom] is off its hinges and broken,” AJ Konstanty ’20 said. “Sometimes there is a lot of trash and toilet paper on the floor of the stalls.”

The posters display a QR code that, when scanned, lead to a Google form where reports can be submitted. The submissions are shared with both the administrators and custodians who can then take action in addressing the issues.

“I think the staff does an amazing job maintaining the cleanliness [of Staples],” Student Assembly Co-President, Erica Fanning ’20 said, “but I think students could step up their part in keeping the bathrooms clean.”

Keeping Staples’ facilities in good condition requires action from both students, staff and the custodial department.

“I believe the condition of our school can be improved,” Hamza Islam ’20 said, “only if people begin to throw away their trash and not just leave it in random places throughout the school.”

The Google form has already been used, and students hope the condition of Staples will continue to improve.
“There have been some areas where we’ve worked on painting and definitely looking into doing some more branding as well,” Principal Stafford Thomas said.

The administration and custodial staff are always striving to create the cleanest school environment possible.
“No school is perfect and there is always more to be fixed and addressed,” Student Assembly Co-President, Ava Sholes ’20, said, “but I think as a community we are trying our best to cultivate change.”