For the first time in years, students in need of financial aid will be given another way to pay their tuition. Instead of cleaning classrooms after school, students will be completing their work through a variety of other tasks throughout the school.

Student work program director, Ms. Anne Moen, said that students will continue to work by doing things like tutoring, calling grandparents to ask for donations, and helping Mr. Effertz in the theater instead of cleaning rooms. “This makes it easier to work a more flexible schedule,” said Ms. Moen.

The student work program plays an important role in the school for kids in need of financial assistance. “Our goal has always been this tradition of having students have the opportunity to help pay off some of the tuition and some of the financial aid,” said Dr. Bob Tift.

The change has been made primarily because of the fact that rooms simply weren’t getting clean enough as many teachers were not pleased with the cleanliness of their rooms. “We weren’t seeing the quality of work that we wanted,” said Dr. Tift.

Director of Maintenance John Troesch cites a lack of experience when explaining why the rooms were not getting clean enough. “Students had to clean when they weren’t used to cleaning,” said Mr. Troesch.

Another factor in the decision was that so many students participate in extra-curricular activities, which made it almost impossible for the students to get their work done. “The challenge that we were seeing more and more with the students was trying to fit that time into their schedule,” said Dr. Tift.

Because students are no longer responsible for cleaning the classrooms, the maintenance staff had to make some changes. Mr. Troesch said that another person, Mike Torgeson, has been added for help clean rooms during the night, something new for BSM.

The teachers have reacted favorably to the change. “I asked them how it was going and they said it was going fine and that they’ve heard no complaints and that people like the way it’s going,” said Dr. Tift.