The staff at our school is composed of wonderful teachers who do all they can to improve their students, but they are not the only ones. Other staff members, such as lunch ladies, bus drivers, security guards, nurses, custodians, and guidance counselors, are underappreciated for all that they do to benefit students.
Many students take the bus and get there safely each day because of their amazing bus drivers, and once they are in the building, the safety protocols continue as they get their bags checked by campus monitors, better known as security.
Campus Monitor Santana Brunilda enjoys protecting people, and one of the ways she does this is through bag checks. Ms. Brunilda said, “We want to make sure that we thoroughly check the bags so that our students and staff and everyone is safe.” Ms. Brunilda finds things are easier when everyone abides by the rules and regulations.
While security guards keeps us safe, our nurses make sure we don’t go to school sick and help sick students the best they can. Guidance counselors, on the other hand, focus more on the mental health of students by helping them plan out their futures through scheduling and testing.
School counselor Kimberly Gibson has over 14 years of experience across SMS and SWMHS and has mastered the art of scheduling. She said, “I do love that time of year [month of scheduling] because it’s the one time of year I can meet every single one of my students and really get to know them better. So I try and take my time with each one and give the student the attention that they need and answer any questions they have.”
Another really busy time of the year for counselors is state testing, but they manage it by staying organized and working together as a team. On an average day, the counselors work on paperwork, meetings, and scheduling new students, but each day is different because they put the needs of the students first. Ms. Gibson also feels that the students and staff make their jobs fun and manageable and have teacher and administrator support.
Teachers are often teaching students more than just a subject; they’re teaching them lifelong lessons. But it doesn’t stop at teachers, as even custodians can inspire students. Custodian Sue Novak said, “On my side of the cafeteria, I tried to get them [students] to realize that when they destroy a place, they show they don’t respect themselves. So I just try to help develop them.”
Sue Novak has grown to be a loved member of SWMHS, who recently won Employee of the Month for January because of her communication skills and treating the students like they are people and not just kids. She enjoys her job, and it is reflected in her hard work, even if she doesn’t enjoy cleaning bathrooms.
Arguably the best part of the day is lunch, and it would not run the same if it weren’t for our lunch ladies. Manager cook Tracy Kehoe said an average day looked like this: “The kitchen activity starts here at 6:30 in the morning, we set up for the children’s breakfast […] and then after breakfast is over, we start the setup for the day’s lunches. Then we continuously cook throughout the day because we have so many different food stations.”
Mrs. Kehoe also said that although she loves seeing the students and chatting with them, she wishes all the students had their IDs ready and respected each other, especially when the fixing bar is out for Bomber burger and fajita days.
