Due to the new housekeeping course that was added to the 9^th grade curriculum this year, the cafeteria has been spotless after lunch for all of second semester.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes!” Stanley Steamer, AHS longtime janitor said. “In all my ten years at AHS I have never seen such amazing cleaners. It would take me years to make the lunchroom look this clean.”

Before this new change to AHS, the clock would hit 12:50 and students would begin rushing to pack up their things and get to class before they were marked tardy. The last thing most students thought of was cleaning up after themselves, since other people were paid to do that. Therefore, the cafeteria was left a complete disaster with endless amounts trash including everything from crushed goldfish to used napkins to apple cores left on the floor, tables, and chairs. After many complaints from the administration about the horrible state of the commons due to freshmen and some upperclassmen leaving trash, the school board decided that they needed to do something to change this.

After having a vote by teachers, upperclassmen, and the administrative board, it was decided that a housekeeping course for ninth graders would be the best solution to this problem. Not only does this class teach kids how to sweep, dust, and mop, it inspires students through a 12-step process to have a love for cleaning as well.

“I think this new course is a great idea. It gives us the opportunity to teach kids a great skill. Many families with students at AHS hire people to clean their houses for them. But now that this course has introduced them to completely new concepts such as mopping, families can save money by making their kids clean the house instead!” Mr. Smith said. “It will also allow our custodial staff to focus on more important things than cleaning up after kids such as the infestation of bees in the journalism classroom or sports bags in the hallways.”

With this new class in place, the amount of sick absences have decreased dramatically because the freshmen have done such a good job at cleaning and sterilizing the school.

“The cleaning class is my favorite part of the day because I just love to clean. I have also learned the various techniques for sweeping,” freshman Jim Mopper. “My favorite is the behind the back, through the legs double sweep move; I pick up lots of trash and lots of chicks with that one.”