Who can we thank for school days unfolding as they should, satisfying our never-ending need for communication, being the friendly faces our children can count on seeing day in and day out, year in and year out, managing necessities like lunch money, activities, medications, state and federal reporting, and so much more? We can thank the staff in every school office in the county. It takes a special person to be able to calm a child, support a teacher, assist a parent, fix a copy machine, organize medications, answer phones, balance books, and make announcements all within a single hour on a normal day… without seeming ruffled. Fillmore County is fortunate to have found many of these special people. No question about it — they are memorable as well as indispensable.
Brenda Ristau, administrative assistant at Fillmore Central Elementary School has been with the district for a total of 25 years. She studied to become a nurse for a time, then started working in the district as a Special Ed paraprofessional (and still works as a PCA for special needs children on the side). After several years as a para, she worked with hot lunch accounts and then took the position in the elementary school office where she’s been for the past 18 years. Brenda grew up on a farm just outside of Preston. She attended school here and all three of her children also graduated from Fillmore Central Schools. Brenda especially loves the first day of school, seeing how much kids have grown, watching their excitement as they reconnect with their school friends again, but she says it’s also a good fit for her all year long — “Where else can I have 345 kids and send them all home at the end of the day?!?”
Kate Brincks, with Fillmore Central High School in Harmony, has only a couple weeks of tenure in the job so far, but she has a history here and is connected to the school in many ways. “School is like a big family system,” she says. Kate is a Fillmore Central alum. Mr. Olstad, now principal, was her fifth grade teacher and she’s taking over for Jane Sagen, just retired, who was the school secretary when Kate and her siblings were students. Kate’s brother graduated last year, her sister teaches at the elementary school in Preston, her mother is on the school board and is also senior class advisor. (“That means I’ll have a few concession stands in my future,” says Kate. It’s an extra responsibility she seems to accept with a shrug and a grin.) Kate says that she likes the “longevity of this position. I’m just starting my career and it’s the type of thing you can do for the long term.”
Diane Peterson, school secretary for Lanesboro Schools, would agree with that. She has 34 years of tenure and is looking forward to retirement later this year. Diane says, “I count my blessings every day for this job!” Upon a friend’s recommendation, Diane started as a paraprofessional at the school four hours a day while also working another job. She soon added custodial work at the school and was then full-time. The school was only half a block from her home and her kids attended there so it worked well for her. In 1995 Diane applied for an opening in the school office and she has been there ever since. Lanesboro has K-12 grades all in the same building so Diane was part of the school throughout the time her children were students and was also there to see her grandchildren through. Her youngest grandchild graduated last spring. “Anyone would love this job,” she says.
Denise Drew has been a school secretary in Lanesboro for the past 23 years. “It’s been a good gig working with Diane. I was lucky to get in when my kids were younger and I could be right alongside them through school. I am passionate about kids and I can’t WAIT for school to start (each fall),” Denise says enthusiastically. “The kids themselves are the best part of what I do — the hugs, the smiles, the news they bring to school. I understand that it’s a HUGE thing for parents — putting your kids in someone’s hands. I hope they know that I appreciate this job and how much it means that people are kind and generous. We have wonderful kids here!”
Lynette Donald and Heather Kleiboer are the district secretaries for Mabel-Canton Schools. Lynette has been part of “the family” there for 21 years and Heather has been working beside her for 15 years. It used to be that Lynette handled the high school and Heather handled the elementary school. Now, while they each maintain their own special areas of responsibility they are in the process of cross training, especially important since Lynette is thinking about retiring. In addition to the tasks they share, Lynette does a lot of the bookkeeping, transcripts and reporting. Heather has been the cheerleading coach for 12 years. She is also the yearbook advisor, handles newsletters, community education, orders supplies, and wrestles with the copy machine. In her spare time, Heather is a professional photographer. “Some former students come back here and are teachers and coaches now,” says Heather, “I am so proud of them!” When asked, “What does a district secretary do,” Lynette and Heather present multi-page typewritten lists of the roles they play and Heather quips, “What DON’T we do?” Superintendent Gary Kuphal adds, “I am not giving up either one of these two! They are always cheerful and polite and the most common thing I hear them say is, ‘How may I help you?’ They seem to know almost everyone who comes in… students, parents… And they both project a positive image in the community!”
Sheri Ramaker is administrative assistant to the principal of Kingsland High School in Spring Valley and has been in that role since 2001. Her children were attending school in Spring Valley and Sheri was on the school board. When the position opened up in the office it seemed like a good fit. Sheri likes working with kids, doing detail work, and doing computer work, and she likes the staff at the school. The only hitch was that she had to resign her position on the school board to take the job. She did it and never looked back. Sheri says that students come to the office for many reasons, some of which are less desirable than others. She tells them, “You make mistakes and you start over. Do your best and that’s all you can do.” Sheri’s daughter has now followed in her footsteps.
Jill Ramaker is the administrative assistant to the principal of Kingsland Schools Pre-K-6. This is her tenth year in the school district and sixth year at her current job. Jill has a degree as a medical administrative assistant and she found that her training was a good fit with the school’s needs. She is also at home here. “Kingsland is my alma mater,” she says, and having grown up in Spring Valley, people that Jill has known for a long time have kids in school here. She likes that but adds, “It’s important to work well with both the people you know and the people you don’t know, being welcoming to all.” And it helps to be able to “go with the flow.” You can never be sure what you’ll have to deal with on a day to day basis so it’s good not to be too rigid.
Keela Hoskins began working for Rushford-Peterson Schools just last February so this will be her first full year. She knows the school and the community well, however, since she graduated from Rushford-Peterson Schools in 2014. Keela is the administrative assistant for the elementary school and she plans to stay. “I grew up here,” says Keela, “my husband and I just bought a house in town and we plan to raise our daughter here.” (Their baby was born this summer.) “I was previously working at a bank,” she informs, “but I have no interest in banking.” This is a better fit. Not only does Keela love working with kids, she also has an interest in sports and is looking forward to doing more coaching. She has been coaching off-season volleyball for the past two years. Keela also likes softball, an interest shared by her officemate, Holly Ekern.
Holly Ekern is in her sixth year as administrative assistant. She started her career in the schools in Community Education, where she did rec programs and coached softball. Rushford is her husband’s home town and she and her husband made their home together here about 15 years ago. Holly was a stay-at-home mom until their son was in eighth grade. She says about her workdays now, “You have to be able to have lots of balls in the air at once, to know what needs to get done, and to prioritize, but also to respond to whatever happens in the moment, deal with it and then come back to your priorities… As fun as it would be to talk to kids and parents all day long, there are lots of other things that need to get accomplished.” She and Keela do a lot of reporting, for instance. “MDE, MDH, MARSS… Everyone wants to know stuff!”
Sharon Manahan, administrative assistant, Chatfield High School, has lived in Chatfield all her life and has been with the public schools for 23 years. The first two years she worked at the elementary school and all the rest at the high school. Sharon speaks for many career school administrative assistants when she says how important it was to her that she could hold a job where her schedule coincided with her children’s schedules. Her husband was on the road a lot when the kids were growing up so having hours and days that aligned with theirs made life easier. This is a busy job with people in and out the front door all day long and phones ringing in between a myriad of other tasks. Sharon says, “People who come to the school office and sit here for any length of time are often surprised at how busy it is.”
Julie Keefe, who works with Sharon, is beginning her third year in the Chatfield High School office. Julie and her husband were originally from Chatfield but lived in the Twin Cities for over 20 years. She was a travel agent for many of those years and was also an administrative assistant for the bishop of the ELCA Church. She finds that her experience with sales, customer service, and administration all made this job a good fit. Julie also asserts, “It’s great to be back on our home town!” For her, the best part of this job is interacting with students. “We are the ‘go-to’ people and students do have questions for us. I enjoy helping others and always hope that I’ve made a difference for them.”
Kathy Gudmundson is administrative assistant at Chatfield Elementary School. July 1, 2018, marked 20 years in this position. She also worked for Rochester Schools for 18 years before that, making her a firsthand witness to many changes. Kathy has seen the role of secretary/administrative assistant evolve dramatically. Where it used to be primarily secretarial, taking meeting notes, making Xerox copies, and the like, now she feels that she has more contact with the students and parents along with being more integrated with the whole school staff. Computers have made a big difference in that transition. “And teachers are so appreciative of whatever we do for them,” she says. That’s rewarding. What Kathy has loved especially about this job is being in the elementary school while her grandchildren were there. One just graduated, one is in tenth grade, and one is in fourth grade, still with her.
Desi Sherman is starting her third year at Chatfield Elementary. Like many others, the big draw to this career for Desi is having her kids in the same school and working close to home but she has also noticed other benefits. She finds that this job connects her to the community more closely. She gets to know parents and often sees people who know her from school when she is out and about. It’s nice when they say, “Hi!” Plus, she is more aware of what is going on in her kids’ lives at school.
Heather Hopp is the Special Education administrative assistant in Chatfield, working three days a week at the elementary school and two days a week at the high school. She is in her third year in this position but worked as a Special Ed paraprofessional in the elementary school for six years before that. Heather has four children and was home with them for 13 years, starting work as a para when her youngest son entered kindergarten. Though she enjoys working with the students, she finds that this administrative role has less personal contact with them. It is challenging and complex because “rules and laws in special education are constantly changing and it’s important to keep up with current requirements,” she explains, “and I set up a lot of meetings.” The most important thing about this job, she says, “You gotta love kids. That’s what we’re here for.” It doesn’t hurt to be outgoing either, she advises. It helps that we have a wonderful staff to work with.
Patti Obey is Chatfield’s administrative assistant for the activities director and is also the facilities coordinator. She has been with the school for over 20 years (Crossing Guard, Special Ed para, Community Education coordinator, and finally, Administration) — all this after a 14-year stint at IBM in Rochester and Minneapolis. It’s a difference of “light years between corporate America with its structure and efficiency and schools which are chaotic.” Patti has been involved in a major facilities change over the past year for Chatfield. “We started last March and since then we’ve touched almost every inch of the school. Good things are happening for the kids. There is a lot of new technology, bigger rooms, and we added a new STEM area (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).” Chatfield also re-envisioned the Library/Media Center into a Link Center at the core of the school with double the space, fewer books, more places to plug in – a design more like a college facility.
Terri Dudek, administrative assistant for the Activities Department and for the Guidance Counseling Office for the past seven years, works closely with Patti Obey. Terri comes to Chatfield Schools after 29 years in Graphic Design with IBM. “It’s really nice not to have to drive to Rochester!” she exclaims. Terri concurs with Patti that schools can be chaotic by nature. For example, there are 400 kids in grades 7-12 in Chatfield and about a hundred of them changed their schedules in the last few days. But the job itself is very rewarding. “Working with students on plans for college, scholarship applications or other dreams for their futures and just doing stuff with the kids is the best.” Patti talks to students about their dreams on the sports side too. “And sometimes,” she says, “Terri and I put on the counselor hats when kids just come in and want to talk.”
A common misconception is that administrative assistants in schools simply answer phones and work with the people that walk into the office. This is certainly an important part of the job, but there is more. Here are a just a few of the tasks that are typical of the role in addition: Taking attendance multiple times a day (and tracking students down when they are not where they’re supposed to be), taking care of medical needs when the school nurse is not there (which in small schools is most of the time), dispensing medications, following up with cuts, bruises, bloody noses; preparing staff directories and other lists and making sure they stay current; managing the cash drawer and financial accounting for student activities, milk money, tuition, SAC program…; payroll, PTO, and arranging for substitute teachers (the calls are often made from home in the evening or starting at 6 a.m.); reporting and paperwork for students, staff, and the school (ADA and ADM Reports, K-12 MARRS, STAR reporting, Carl PERKINS Data Collection, MCCC reporting, etc.), record-keeping and filing; arrangements for transportation — busses, vans — facilities, and event planning, sports passes; emergency and safety activities including security cameras, signing in and out, school closings and emergency procedures/communication; handling detentions, which are often served in the school office; technology including web master, copy machine repair, phones, voicemail and email; newsletters, handbooks, conferences, board meetings, minutes; community education coordination; Homecoming; the senior trip and graduation, yearbook, certificates, diplomas, supplies ordering and stocking… AND SO MUCH MORE, all of which has to occur between and around the phone calls, visitors, and other interruptions. Jill Ramaker says, “A lot of people wonder what I do during the day. I am busy all the time. But if you do the job right, it looks like you’re never too busy to help.”
In spite of all that rests on their shoulders, these administrative assistants say they love their jobs and they tend to stay at them for a long time. “It’s all about the kids,” they agree. Desi Sherman enjoys having a big window in the office. “Seeing students every day and giving them a wave, is fun.” Keela Hoskins and Holly Ekern also have huge windows in the office and can look up from their work to see kids smile and wave. Holly says, “It’s like a mental health break.” Kathy Gudmondson agrees, “Students come in on your birthday or other special occasions. They make us cards and sing Happy Birthday to us… During Administrative Assistants Week teachers bring in whole classes with cards for us.” Lynette Donald says she loves watching students grow and change through the years, kindergarten through graduation. She sees many of them outside of school after they’ve graduated and the majority greet me.” Brenda Ristau smiles, “It’s funny that kids often don’t think I exist outside of school. They recognize me at the grocery store or a restaurant and say, “Brenda, what are YOU doing here??”
Many administrative assistants appreciate their communities both local and extended, saying that they have great families and support from parents, and community businesses. When tragedy struck last school year in Mabel-Canton the outpouring of support from far and wide was amazing, Heather Kleiboer remembers. “People brought flowers, money, boxes of cookies, and food. Other schools, those who are rivals when playing sports, were there for us. In times like these, they are family. They understand. They have lost students too.”
Several people in these jobs mentioned that they are frequently put in a position where well-meaning people want information on students or situations and the information cannot be shared. “We have to respect data privacy and we can’t say anything,” says Denise Drew, “It’s better if people don’t ask.” One of the hardest parts about this job is seeing kids struggle or those that are living in situations that aren’t the best for them. “Families are all different and kids have different needs,” Brenda Ristau elaborates. “All you can do is go with the flow — make them feel comfortable and safe while trying to create an environment where they can learn.” “It can be a challenge to stay above the drama and close your ears to gossip,” says Heather Kleiboer. “Sometimes you need a thick skin. We represent the school and we have to consider that — people do view us as representatives. Not everybody’s going to send you a Christmas card but you need to do the right thing and keep confidences.”
For anyone who loves working with children and yearns to become an administrative assistant in a school, those currently in the position offer this advice: “It helps if you’re a people person, willing to do whatever needs to be done,” says Diane Peterson. “You’ll have a lot of tasks all at once and a lot of people coming at you. Prioritize! And multi-task!” advises Desi Sherman. “Be willing to roll with things,” says Heather Hopp. “You need to be flexible and organized… Things change. My day never goes the way my To-Do list says.” “You can’t expect that you’re going to sit down and finish a job,” says Lynette Donald. “In fact, you might not be able to get back to it until the next day!” “Don’t lose your sense of humor,” advises Kate Brincks, relaying a line she heard and took to heart from her “tech guy,” Neil. Above all, “Ya gotta love kids. That’s what we’re here for – the kids!” Desi Sherman concludes.
Kathy Gudmundson offers a personal maxim that was shared in other words by many administrative assistants. She says, “Come to work with a smile. If you have a bad morning at home, leave it at home. If a parent is mad or irate, remember that it’s not personal. I have had angry parents come back after cooling down to apologize… and even give me a hug.” Kids have bad days and bad times too. Keela Hoskins says, “There are going to be challenging kids. Don’t take it personally, it’s not you. There’s usually something else going on for them so don’t let it weigh too heavy on your heart. Some kids will act out and the next day… it’s a brand new day.”
Holly Ekern also has some words of wisdom she repeats to herself at the start of every new year — a sort of mantra she uses to get over the feeling that she’s done all she could to prepare and she’s still not ready. When the time comes for the first day of school she says to herself: “Kids will come. They will go to their classrooms. They will learn. And we will help them as they go.”
Thank you all for being there to help our students as they go.
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