Episode 47

Larry Welshon with his father, Don,

Episode 47: Chores

Everyone at Alpine Valley School (students and staff alike) participate in doing cleaning chores twice a week. On this episode, we follow a Chore-Checker (the student responsible for making sure chores are done, and to the appropriate standard) on their rounds and share our rationale behind why we have chores in the first place. Believe it or not, there are a lot of developmental advantages to doing chores, beyond the obvious benefits of having a clean place to play every day.

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This episode is also available in video format on YouTube. 

Episode Transcript

Marc: (00:06)
Hello and welcome to the Alpine Valley school podcast. I'm your host, Marc Gallivan. In today's episode, we're discussing doing chores at school, what kinds of chores we require, why we do them, and what the process actually looks and sounds like. Thanks for tuning in. Before we jump in, let me share a little more about our school. Alpine Valley school is a private K through 12 school located in Denver, Colorado. That follows a self directed democratic education model, also known as the Sudbury model. On this podcast, we discuss our model of education, share stories from day to day life at school and interview graduates of our program on their experiences. If you'd like to share your thoughts and opinions with the show, you can reach us podcast@alpinevalleyschool.com and you can find Alpine Valley school on virtually all social media by searching for our name. If you think our school may be right for you or your family or someone you know, please reach out to us to schedule a tour. We do tours of our campus all throughout the year and welcome visitors. You can set up your own tour on our website which is Alpine Valley school.com now onto today's episode.

(01:18)
From the outside and may not look like much is required of our students. After all we have no mandatory classes or required testing. They're actually asked to take on a lot in terms of personal responsibility. This also includes responsibility to the community as a whole and one aspect of that is doing chores twice a week. All school meeting members, meaning both the staff and the students must participate in cleaning chores throughout the school. These chores are divided up by age with a section of chores dedicated to the students 10 and up and others for students that are under that age. Chores in the ten and up category include things like vacuuming, different sections of the building, washing windows, sweeping non carpeted areas and taking out the trash. Chores for younger members include indoor pickup, which is making sure that a particular section of the building is free of toys or other items and wiping down tables and other surfaces around the building. Staff members have assigned chores that they complete as needed, often more than the required twice a week. These chores may include things like taking out trash from the large bins in the kitchen, wiping down heavily used tables and cleaning the bathrooms, unsure days, which are Tuesday and Friday. Each student signs up for a chore as they arrive for the day. A chore checker is also assigned for the day. Here's Connie, one of our staff members talking about the role of the chore checker at Alpine Valley school.

Connie: (02:43)
Our chore system involves a key position called the short checker. This person has to be certified, which means they have to follow certain procedures in order to become a chore checker and they're pretty stringent. They have to know each chore and it's to be done. They have to know how to check a chore to make sure that it has been completed sufficiently and then they check off that person. So as each student and staff do their chore, they go to the chore checker and the checker then goes with them, looks it over, make sure it's done well, and checks them off. Until that point, the person's chore is not completed. Currently our three students hold this position and they get paid $3 for every time that they act as chore checker.

Marc: (03:27)
The chore checker ensures that all chores are completed and that they are done to the standards set forth by the school's aesthetics and use committee. This committee is a body made up of students and staff that handles the look of the building's interior as well as managing all procedures related to doing and checking chores. A&U, as it is lovingly referred to is also in charge of certifying tore checkers and paying them their weekly stipend for doing their job, as Connie mentioned. I'm going to give you a sample of what it's like to be a chore checker. I spent the afternoon following chore checker Alder as he performed his duties and even ended up helping out with a chore myself.

(04:02)
[audio of kids doing their chores and getting them checked]

Marc: (04:14)
Chore Checking can be a demanding job. We currently have three chore checkers and invite interested students to begin the certification process if they want to join the ranks. So why do we do chores? Well, there's the obvious reason, which is to keep the school clean, tidy, and an enjoyable place to be. Also to ensure the school meeting officials do their job without having to shuffle around piles of stuff all the time. Beyond that, it's my personal belief, the chores instill a sense of personal responsibility for the school into the community. If I have to step away from my very engaging game of Foursquare, in order to vacuum the office only to have my friend come in and dump a box of Legos all over the floor, I may be more inclined to take action than I would've been otherwise. The same goes for all areas in the school. Doing shores sends the message that this is our school and we all have a responsibility to keep it clean and an enjoyable place for everyone to be short time each week gives us two opportunities to remember that important lesson. Chore time can also be an opportunity for the budding entrepreneur to make their move. Some students have made doing other people's chores for a fee of course into a veritable industry. Here's Kelsey and AVS graduate talking about her experience doing chores for money.

Kelsey: (06:51)
So when I went to AVS, I got really excited about and jumped on the opportunity to, um, start asking people if I could do their chores. When we came up with a buy out, uh, option for doing chores, I got a, a chore with $3. And basically somehow it came to be that if you wanted to buy out of a chore, you could just do that or you could pay Kelsey $2 and she would do your chores. So I, um, I actually made it a little business and it fits perfectly with me actually now because I am a total entrepreneur. And so I would, um, I think I, my absolute record was like 13 chores in a day. Like I had every chore except one that really taught me a lot actually. Um, I love cleaning too, so it was like really easy money for me and I was already there, so it wasn't that big of a deal to like vacuum the quiet room for $2 or , like clean a toilet for $2. I guess that was the initiation into me learning a little bit about how um, I'm very entrepreneurial and yeah, so that was really amazing for me.

Marc: (08:14)
So you can see that while on the surface chores seem like a simple proposition, there's a lot involved. And to me it's a great example of how our school teaches the important lessons, like personal responsibility and civic engagement. Not to mention the very practical skill of operating a vacuum cleaner. If you want to learn more about other aspects of life at our school, you can check out the entire podcast catalog at alpinevalleyschool.com/podcast if you have an idea for an episode, a question or a comment, drop us a line at podcast@alpinevalleyschool.com or reach out to us on social media. This is episode 47 of the Alpine Valley school podcast. You can find show notes for this episode at Alpine Valley school.com/podcast/ep47. On the next episode, we'll be exploring another important aspect of life at school: Elections. Stay tuned for that episode coming in two weeks. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple podcasts so that you never miss an episode. You can also leave us a review if you feel inclined, which helps new listeners find our show. As always, thanks for listening. I'm Marc Gallivan, this is the Alpine Valley school podcast, and we'll be back again soon with more stories of real learning for real life.