We interact with custodians, the lunch staff, bus drivers, substitute teachers and secretaries every day. Maybe not as frequently as with our peers and teachers, and they do not have the same kind of overarching power as principals and administrators, but all of these people ensure we have an optimal high school experience.

There are custodians working nearly 24/7 to ensure our school is clean and orderly. While our work day is confined from 7:50 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. Monday through Friday, some custodians work from 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.-7 a.m. or during the weekends. They also spend all summer maintaining the building for the school’s many camps and making sure the school is spotless for our arrival in August. Without this labor-intensive work, the school would be an unpleasant environment in which to learn, and the lack of cleanliness could become a health concern.

The lunch staff, who prepare, serve and sell our food, give students the energy needed to make it through the day. While students can pack their meals, school lunch makes sure every student, including those who do not have the time or means to bring lunch, do not leave school hungry. The lunch staff are always friendly and flexible. They remind students if their lunch comes with more food and allow students to eat even if they unexpectedly run out of money. They are always open to suggestions, and issued a school-wide survey this year.

Bus drivers are charged with bringing many of us to school every day. They wake up early and face the ire of busy drivers on Beachwood’s side streets and main thoroughfares. They also have to function as referees, sometimes corralling rowdy students. Without them, some students would have difficulty getting to school.

Students are sometimes excited to discover there is a substitute teacher because they feel class will be less intense, but substitutes have important jobs. When teachers get sick or family events and emergencies come up, learning cannot stop. Substitutes ensure the class is orderly and students can learn, even without their normal educators at hand.

Students may only interact with secretaries when they are late to school or have a meeting with an administrator, but they do more for students than meets the eye. Whenever there is a school event, like the National Honors Society induction assembly or the 8th grade parents night, administrative assistants coordinate all involved, from the custodians to the photographers, to make sure the evening runs seamlessly. They ensure the principal, asst. principal, athletic director, and guidance department are able to complete their tasks. Whenever a parent gets a letter, a school-wide notice is sent out or the building schedule must be altered for an assembly, a secretary is responsible.

We must appreciate all those who help make this school a better place, even those with whom we do not directly communicate. This is not to say BHS students are disrespectful to these sometimes overlooked members of the community, but as we strive to live up to our creed as intellectual entrepreneurs with a social conscience, it is important we not only keep an eye on where we are going, but give thanks to the forces guiding us to the top.