One afternoon earlier this semester, at exactly 12:23, Milken students were enjoying their lunches and time with their friends when something shocking happened. Their normal conversations were interrupted by a familiar song ringing out from the loudspeakers. What was it? The “clean up” song from “Barney,” a TV show many current Wildcats grew up watching. A song many of us are familiar with from Kindergarten was playing across the entire Milken High school campus.
But why?
Throughout this school year, the school has been littered with trash every day after lunch. Food containers, silverware, and Milken Mart and Vicki’s packages cover tables, chairs, and even the ground.
According to Mr. Lindsay, Division Head for grades 11-12, this is not a new issue.
“For years this has been a problem in our community,” he said. “At the end of lunch our operations team spends so long cleaning up the trash the students are not cleaning up themselves.”
With the warning bell before the end of lunch, many students forget to throw away the trash they created.
“When the bell rings my main goal is to just get to class,” said one student, who preferred to remain anonymous.
This, in essence, is the problem Milken faces when dealing with the issue of garbage. There is so much chaos that cleaning up is sometimes forgotten.
In response to this dilemma, the student advisory committee, a group of 11-12 division students who work with administrators to solve issues on campus, held a meeting.
The students, specifically seniors, in the group, brainstormed numerous ways to fix this situation. One popular solution was to have students and faculty walking around at the end of lunch to remind students to clean up.
However, in the end, one senior suggested a reminder to clean, and so the committee decided on the familiar “Clean Up” song from the television series “Barney” that many have been familiar with from their younger days.
Many students have strong opinions about this song, some thinking it was too juvenile and others thinking it was a helpful reminder to clean and that class was coming soon.
“I feel like I’m in preschool,” said Dylan E ‘28.
“I think it’s honestly helpful,” said another.
“It’s kind of weird,” said one more.
How did the school administration respond to this criticism?
“If we pick up the trash better, we wouldn’t need a song,” said Mr. Lindsay, reasonably.
Mr. Sanchez, Director of Operations and Campus Safety, and his team observed that the song helped a bit at school, but only for a few days. Quickly, the mounds of trash reappeared.
Although the song has been helpful, more ideas may need to be added and brainstormed in order to ensure that the trash after lunch stays as little as possible.
After lunch on November 10th, for example, a new song was played: a remix by the singer Desmond Dennis called “Clean Up”. One teacher was even seen dancing!
Overall, this juvenile song serves as a reminder that students must clean up after themselves, because when they do not, they themselves seem like preschoolers. If they do not want to be treated as such, they must act more maturely.
This leaves everyone wondering, will this song actually go away if students pick up their trash? Although there is no guarantee of what will happen next, as the behavior of kids is unpredictable in terms of garbage amount, Milken will continue to try to make the community a better place.