Sanitation plays an important role in every school, in Pace this is an issue due to the way it affects our community. Some students and teachers are unable to work in an unsanitary environment, which impacts their education and ability to learn.

11th grader Addison Jones claimed that the sanitary condition of the school are “pretty bad.” She believes that “because of Covid and all that, the school should be cleaned way more than it is.”

Jones thinks that the school should have at least one thorough cleaning each day and be sweeped throughout the day.

Ms. Medina, who is new to Pace as a physical education teacher, feels the same way. When she arrived to the school, her room, the weight room, was not clean at all. This led to her having to get her hands dirty to clean the weight room.

Despite doing her part, Ms. Medina wishes more could be done. “I don’t do a lot, because I don’t think it’s my job to do that.”

We see janitors all the time in the school doing their job, so who’s to blame for Pace’s sanitary condition?

Jones believed that students were to blame for the school’s condition, not the janitors. Jones said, “There’s just trash everywhere from the students. I think they should be taking more initiative to pick up after themselves.”

However, Ms. Medina believes that the problems can also tie into the janitors. “I do believe that there can be some changes” Similar to Jones, Ms. Medina thinks the school is in need of a thorough clean, as well as a thorough mop once a week.

Ms. Medina’s view was that “In a sense, this place is like a second home. If your home is dirty, it’s just not welcoming.” She compares a classroom to a home and says that if either room were dirty, people wouldn’t be able to concentrate and be their best self.