KINDNESS MATTERS
OFFICES
T
his week's Not So Undercover Boss took me to the office at Enumclaw Middle School.
My first "call to duty" was to stand behind the four foot counter greeting each staff
member as they came through the office welcoming them to a new day of working
with students. At EMS, it has become a ritual for staff to come through the office area
each morning for a greeting, cup of coffee, a check of their mailbox, etc. I have to
tell you that this 15-20 minute period of time was incredibly insightful and meaningful
for so many reasons.
I was actually quite amazed about how much this office
team knew about their staff members. The conversations
may have started with, "Hi. How are you?" but then they
quickly were personalized. “How are your three boys?
When I am an empty-nester, I may have to borrow one."
“How was yesterday's retreat? What did you learn?"
“Great dancing on the 'Jib-Jab' video!" These types of
questions and comments demonstrated an authentic
type of caring. The question about the retreat and the
learning that occurred was asked of several EMS leadership team members. Again, it demonstrated care, but it
also allowed the staff member to synthesize and verbalize
the learnings of this important staff-day in a 30 second
sound bite.
After greeting staff, one student showed up with a tray of cupcakes. She shared the story that she told her Dad at 9:00 PM. It was teacher
appreciation week and she needed to make cupcakes. She stayed up until after 11:00 baking and frosting cupcakes. She was now on a
mission for delivering "sweet treats" to staff members. It was at this time I was being given my next task. The office staff had arranged for
parents to bring in treats for the certificated staff and I was to greet families, thank them and then help arrange the treats on a tray. Parent
after parent came through with trays of sweet treats . . . then Mrs. Johnson came through the hall, "Here you go. They're still warm." I said
thank you and she walked out the door. Carefully, I took a peak under the foil. Lemon Bars . . . my favorite . . . still warm! As they were placed
on a tray, I have to admit I did sample one (Sorry EMS teachers if you did not get a lemon
bar!). Pure bliss . . . butter, sugar, lemon . . . yum! I ran an extra mile on that day! :)
I discovered that each day was a different kind of celebration to honor certificated staff.
A couple of days were done by parents, but the other days were done by classified staff
with all classified staff members participating.
I was then given the responsibility to answer the phones. After one slight error in transferring a call (I did catch it before I sent it to the wrong place). I became quite good
at greeting a parent and transferring them from the main number to the attendance
office. I will not soon forget extension 7160! Sam, who is the student support in the
office for answering the phones, quickly became my competition. He was way too
fast for me and actually picked up the line and transferred it before I could say,
"Good Morning! Enumclaw Middle School. How can I help you?"
It was computer work time! I needed to verify the absences for payroll. This means
looking at the roster and making sure the person absent and the substitute match up
in the system. After a quick tutorial, I mastered this task and sent off the information
to payroll. This allows our payroll staff to correctly take leave from our totals on our pay stub at the
end of each month. I then needed to help complete a KCDA order. Unlike, a few years ago when I was a principal,
all of this information is now online. Find the item, put in the quantity and then save it. This process is very similar to ordering something
off of the Amazon or any other internet company. I became a bit frustrated when I
needed to order various index cards of various colors. I could clearly see them on one
page and wanted to type . . . 3 yellows, 2 green, 4 whites and 1 blue. Instead the system only allowed me to order one at a time . . . so I had to go back to the same page
four times. I may have to send this edition of the Not So Undercover Boss to KCDA! :)
I was honored to work in the office at Enumclaw Middle School and would be honored
to work in any of our school offices. During this Not So Undercover Boss, I saw office staff
members providing leadership in the development of a positive school climate and a
culture of caring. It was clearly evident that there is a strong value placed upon setting
students and staff up for a great day of learning and telling parents through actions
and behaviors that EMS is a good place for their students. There was always a lot going
on . . . phones, students, staff, parents . . . yet it was all handed with such a calm competence.
"You never get a second chance to make a first impression." We are lucky that our
school offices have wonderful staff members who value that "first impression" every day!