Some days are just so complicated and difficult. Working in the front office of a public school these days can be very challenging. They actually expect you to get a great deal of work accomplished in a day. How I ask? At any given moment in the work day, there are multiple interruptions. You have the parents walking up to the counter with questions, questions, questions. And I am supposed to have the answers. LOL. Then there are the students with boo boos. It starts as soon as they get to school in the morning. They need bandaids or ice packs. Hurts that happen at home all of a sudden become important when they get to school. In they march to get just a little bit of attention. Maybe that's it. The parents are too busy or exhausted to give them just a little bit of tender loving care, so they come to the school office to get it.
Throughout the work day, people come and go. All of them have needs and we try to help them. Students with discipline problems are sent regularly to the office because they are unable to function in the classroom and need to be isolated. Parent volunteers sign in/out in the front office. When they come in, you don't want to appear rude, so you make sure to greet them. All the while, the work on your desk is not getting completed. And then there are the phone calls. On the average, the phone probably rings at least every 4-5 minutes. And each phone call lasts about 2 minutes. We are not only secretaries and attendance verifiers, but on more than one occasion during the work day, we become counselors. Phone calls come in and someone needs help on the other end of the phone with a situation involving their child. Sometimes we can give them insight regarding their situation and actually help and sometimes they just need someone to listen. At any rate, we are there for them. At times we are "friends of the friendless." For goodness sake, there are only so many hours a day to get my work completed. The day is getting away from me already.
Now on to my pile of work - there are supplies to order, purchase requisitions to create, payroll to report, suspensions, expulsions, discipline referrals, enrolling students, requesting student records, creating facilities requests, ordering catering for meetings, student attendance, writing tardy slips for tardy students, calling classrooms to give messages to children regarding how they are to go home after school or to let them know that their parent brought their homework, glasses, or musical instrument; creating notifications for air conditioners that are broken, numerous work orders throughout the day. At any rate, this list goes on and on. But how do we get the job done? By the grace of God. He is the source of our strength each and every minute of the day. Even on the hard days, he is there to help us make it through. And because we like each other. In my office, I have the privilege of working with some wonderful friends. I am ever so grateful for them. Thanks Lisa, Fontaine, and Marchetta. We are a great team! Wouldn't know what to do without you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment