Teacher pays wholesome tribute to school's cleaning staff during summer break: 'We love you'

Everyone knows that it takes a village to raise children. When we talk about the ‘village’ what comes to mind is family, parents, siblings, pets, babysitters, teachers and more. However, there’s a part that often gets overlooked but plays a critical role in raising a child in a clean and hygienic environment at school, the cleaning crew. Dan Shutes—who goes by @danshutes on TikTok—paid a heartfelt tribute to the cleaning staff of his school for maintaining a clean environment for kids to learn in.

The video begins with a fifth-grade teacher introducing himself, walking in the school hallway during the summer break. He continued, “I stopped at school today to do some work on my computer and I do know they started cleaning our classrooms. For the record, we have the best cleaning staff probably around.” He then said he was “curious” to see what his classroom looked like during the cleaning process.

He entered his classroom’s hallway and highlighted that when all the things in the classroom are neatly stacked outside in the hallway, it’s “a sign of a good cleaning crew.” He jokingly adds, “It’s really weird coming into school during summer because it’s so quiet and this place is never quiet, so I feel like I’m being watched.” He proceeds to show his classroom and all his classroom essentials are stacked outside the room. “It looks like they took all student desks and chairs out.” He then enters the classroom to take “a peek.”

The vacuum fans of the classroom were turned on and he observantly said, “So the fans tell me that they deep cleaned my carpet, which is awesome. Everything is out of the classroom and our staff is so awesome.” He pointed out that the cleaning staff stacked everything “nicely” on the countertop in a very “organized” manner. He headed towards his desk to check whether it was scrubbed and added, “My desk is being cleared off, which means I’m assuming they scrubbed it? Oh yeah!” He examined the clean keyboard, the clean desk and all of his “clutter” that was “stacked nicely out of the way.” He then gave a panoramic view of his “huge classroom” and complimented it as “awesome.”

He concluded the video with thanks, “So shout out to anybody that’s on a janitorial crew to school. You guys are truly the unsung heroes at that building. You guys do so much behind the scenes to keep this place afloat. We do appreciate all the work that you guys do. We love you.” The gratitude of Shutes towards the janitorial staff at schools was reflected in the comment section and users appreciated his lovely video thanking the cleaning staff.

@blakewood1988 said, “Custodians are truly the glue that holds the school together. I’m an Assistant Principal and cannot thank my crew enough!” @daynadayn84, commented, “Your parents/village brought you up right! Amazing to the kids, amazing to people who often go unrecognized. Keep spreading your kindness.”