After working as a part of the custodial team here at Bellows Free Academy for over half a year, I’ve experienced most of what you can see in this job. Most days begin in the breakroom where you clock in and out. Some days meetings will be held where new regulations or changes to the schedule may be made. 

As a temporary employee, one of the most important roles that I have is filling in for missing members of the full-time staff team. On regular days, however, we have an assigned schedule to fill out.

After clocking in, the next stop is to the machine closet where my cart is held. In our carts, you will find a variety of cleaning tools such as a broom, mop, trash bags, spray bottles and other miscellaneous items.  Our job requires a number of tasks to be completed in every single room when they are cleaned and, as such, we are each provided with our own carts. 

After refitting my cart’s trash bin with a fresh bag and grabbing any specialty equipment from the long-term storage room, I normally head over to the supply room. In these rooms, most of the equipment and resources that are readily needed are held. 

After grabbing an assortment of cloths/mops and refilling my spray bottles, I then head over to my dedicated bathrooms. On a normal day, I manage five different bathrooms.

These bathrooms require a number of tasks to be completed.

1. Spray down touch surfaces, mirrors, sinks, toilet paper holders, toilets, urinals, etc. 

2. Take out trash and sweep the floor.

3. Wipe down everything that isn’t a toilet/urinal with a blue or yellow wipe

4. Equip rubber gloves and wipe down toilets/urinals with a pink wipe

5. Mop floors.

Once one bathroom is done, I move to another and repeat. 

While some may see this list as quite simple, there is a certain level of skill and attention that is required to complete these tasks as well as the constant awareness required to work with biological dangers; this job does require some effort.

 Most people also see bathrooms as disgusting places and for good reason, they can at times be quite dirty. After a few weeks of working in this job, however,  you start to become desensitized to these things and stop noticing or even caring when something is especially dirty. Alongside this, our safety standards and protocols for handling the toilets keep me safe. I no longer care about what I’m cleaning, whether the hallways or the bathrooms.

 The benefits of working at BFA, in my opinion, highly outweigh these aspects, however. They pay an excellent $15.00 an hour minimum as well as require no extra driving between work and school. I have a friendly team at my back who is willing to help me out with any issues at a moment’s notice. All of these things make me a happy member of the BFA custodial team.