On Monday, October 7th during assembly, a team of community members came together to address the bathroom vandalism and a general disregard of campus. Head of Upper School, Mr. Norcini, Director of Facilities, Benjamin West, photography teacher, Pete Capano, and heads of Service and Honor Councils, spoke to the Upper School student body, encouraging us to be a more mindful community and take care of SCH’s amazing campus.
Mr. Norcini began his speech by sharing his appreciation for the school as a whole. He said, “I love my colleagues. I love this campus. Every day I bring my kids here, and it’s a great start to a day, to start the week, to start our time here together.”
Mr. Norcini referred to many incidents on campus, specifically the bathroom vandalism from two weeks prior. He added, “There’s been a lot of trash left all around campus, but particularly in our common spaces. Pieces of food, like pizza just on the ground, trash everywhere. So here today I just want to share one of my frustrations, which I hope for many of you is a shared frustration.”
Photography teacher Pete Capano also spoke. “I’m just here to tell you whatever you’re doing. It’s gotta stop. This is our, at least our part-time home. We do stupid stuff and it affects all of us. It’s disrespectful. It’s disrespectful to us. It’s disrespectful to Mr. West and his crew who have to come and clean up the mess. But mostly it’s disrespectful to yourself, which you should know better.”
The heads of Service Honor councils reiterated everyone’s points. Ava Lanzetta advised, “Today, at lunch, before you leave, just pick up your trash. It is so simple to just clean up after yourself. You do it at your house, your parents make you clean up after yourself, so all of us are asking you to just pick up after yourself, and leave the place better than you found it.”
The Director of Facilities, Benjamin West also spoke. He said, “It may be fun to play ball in the cafeteria, kicking around in that annex there. But when the TV gets busted off the wall, it gets broken. It takes time out of the day and uses money. We have other, better things to repair here, and make things last for over half a year here. Your school is almost like your neighborhood, you know, your block. Just like your neighborhood, keeping these places running doesn’t just happen by accident.”
