With cold weather and snow affecting both staff and students, custodians regularly must clear the parking lots and sidewalks of this school. Many students walk up to the school from the stadium parking lot every day, and as the days of winter continue, the weather becomes more dangerous.

Senior Paul German walks from the stadium for jazz band early every morning and regularly experiences the effects of winter weather on the trail.

“I walk up to the school a lot earlier than anyone else, and it has been getting colder and colder,” said German.

It is not just the cold that is a concern, but also snow and ice.

Assistant principal Doug Bird said, “The custodians at Carmel do a great job getting here early and salting the sidewalks as well as plowing snow where the most traffic occurs.”

According to Bird, custodians come hours before school starts, and generally place salt along the trail, as well as in front of the main entrance to the school.

“The custodians do a great job clearing up the snow and ice and making it safe for us students to walk up the trail in the dark,” German said.

Custodians here also pay attention to weather forecasts so as to know when there is a possibility of a snowstorm that they would have to clear, according to Bird.

“Students should know that we have great custodians here at CHS who come in early and make the trail among other places safe for students to walk and drive, and the students do their part by being cautious when walking up the trail and driving to and from school,” Bird said. By Tim Klein