Bananas hanging from trees. Slices of pizza littered on the ground. Trays of partially eaten food left on picnic tables.

These are just a few sites on display in the courtyard on a daily basis after lunch ends each day at Akins. Custodians are regularly left to clean up this mess which has become a regular occurrence once, again.

This is not a new problem at Akins. Students seem to develop bad habits about not properly disposing of their trash and uneaten food after lunch each day, leaving a sloppy appearance to a public place on campus.

This problem has been happening for a few years and leaders at Akins have taken notice.

Freshman Olivia Woods, who is Student Council vice president of the Class of 2027, said she wishes students would be more careful about cleaning up after lunch.

“I think it’s easier if we just clean up ourselves,” she said. “I mean, we’re basically young adults. So I think picking up trash wouldn’t be so hard to do.”

Assistant Principal Melinda Van Horn said requiring students to clean up the courtyard because of a disciplinary problem might incentivize students to be more careful about where they leave their trash.

“I think that maybe if we had students who were firsthand affected either because they were volunteering to help clean up, or possibly a consequence for disciplinary things, skipping class or you know, whatever, maybe instead of a Saturday school, you could choose to do a cleanup service,” Van Horn said.

Assistant Principal Susan Thames said she struggled to understand why students were not good about cleaning up after themselves.
“I honestly cannot answer that question,” she said. “I’m assuming they think that that’s the custodian’s job to pick up after them. However, at their homes, I’m sure they’re picking up after themselves. That should be the expectation.”