Being a seventh grade student myself, I know that the hallways, classrooms, and the cafeteria are often a huge mess. When we come back to school it is almost like brand new. It’s not magic; it’s our custodians!

Students often see a person who just cleans up their messes, which causes them to think lower of custodians.This is completely disrespectful and should be addressed. Custodians work very hard to make our school clean and safe, and often work after hours to prepare the school for the next day, and students overlook this fact.

Matthew Garza,Head custodian, says,“Never judge us.There’s more to us than just you seeing us sweeping and mopping every day.”

Custodians have the ability to do so much more than what students give them credit for. A majority of  students will leave a mess, just making custodian’s jobs that much harder.Students have the ability to pick up trash to help, but more often than not they choose not to.Many custodians have dreams of doing  things other than cleaning up after students.

“My dream job is to be a police officer. I always wanted to be one since I was little.Last year I applied for Corpus P.D as well trying to get in a weekend police academy so I can still work at the same time. I have  also been on ride alongs with Schertz PD a few times,” said Matthew Garza, Head Custodian.

In any situation most people will see trash or a mess and ignore it, simply because it is not theirs and they didn’t make that mess. Custodians clean every single mess that they didn’t make and rarely complain. If any students try to tell someone to clean their mess there is a chance they listen, but often not.

“ … they just think the custodians will pick up after and that it isn’t their job,” said Iris Esparza, a 7th grade student.

Respecting all people no matter what they do is a bare necessity that many students and even adults lack.It doesn’t matter what job you have, people should respect you for it. Simple respect can get you many opportunities that you may not have had if you were disrespectful.

“ Be anything you want in life, it’s never a race. Don’t let anyone put you down for what you do. As long you enjoy it and you’re happy that’s all that matters,” said  Garza.