HELP: Poly’s Adopt-A-Campus program helps keep our school clean.
By Tyler Demshki, Staff Writer
Poly’s campus is a dirty place. It is often littered with food and food packaging during both lunchtime and breakfast, and it can be a big job for the custodial staff. Luckily, they have some assistance.
Poly’s special education class provides this help during first period as part of the Adopt-A-Campus program, in which they sweep through the school after breakfast to dispose of all the trash left behind. Additionally, there are five specific students who independently assist the custodial staff after lunch, performing a similar, if not more complex and less guided, task.
For both groups, this vocational training helps hone many skills. It helps the students practice attention to detail, task management, job responsibility and proper care of instruments used. The students who help after lunch also learn to think and act on their own initiative, as well as to follow instructions.
Their work also has more far-reaching benefits however. “It provides my students a sense of accomplishment equivalent to ‘meaningful employment.’ That’s what it’s all about,” Denise Christensin, teacher of the special education class, said.
All of these different factors combine to form a program that is very enriching for the students in it. They get to learn important skills while doing a job that provides gratifying, visible feedback, all the while helping our custodians and our school.