It’s hard to miss. In an attempt to clean up McClatchy’s campus, the “Clean Up Song” played over the school intercom to mark the end of every lunch period and remind students to clean up. After about a week of playing every day at lunch, the Clean Up song was replaced by an announcement over the intercom five minutes before the end of lunch reminding students to pick up after themselves.
The initial decision to introduce the Clean Up song was made in response to the widespread trash littering McClatchy’s hallways and quads. Growing tired of seeing the an increase in the amount of trash across campus, the members of C.K.M.’s Shared Decisions meeting, a committee of parents, teachers, students, faculty, and administrators, decided it was finally time to do something about it.
There were several suggestions lined up to take on the trash epidemic, one of which included closing the science quad during lunch, which is noticeably one of the most populated and trash-filled lunch spots on campus. The members of the meeting settled instead for the Clean Up song to run for a couple minutes, as it was less intrusive on the students.
The song played for five minutes when it was first introduced, but after a few days there was a collective acknowledgement in ASB that five minutes was too long and 30 seconds would suffice.
After that, numerous old and new variations of the song were played at the end of lunch period, a seemingly different version of the song each day.
Donovan Wakeman (‘20) said about the song: “It’s too annoying and blaring; it hurts my ears.” He said it throws him off because it makes him prepare for fifth period sooner than he needs to.
Another student, who wishes to remain anonymous, said, “It’s terrible and makes me want to penguin dive on my head.”
Another anonymous student added, “It was an assault on my delicate eardrums.”
ASB president Daisy Lewis offered her opinion on the decision to add the clean up song to the passing period music. Well aware of the backlash the song has been receiving, she expressed that if students are opposed to it or any decisions made affecting the students at C.K.M., the meetings are open. While there are designated student representatives who are allowed to vote, students can still attend and add their input.
Only progress towards a cleaner campus can show for the song’s effectiveness. The clean up song and its backlash indicate that if kids at C.K.M. wish to have their voices heard in the decision making process, the Shared Decisions meetings are open to any and all students.