Sabrina Lo

Secretary Terri Plack hands a student a snack, one of the many services they provide at school.

As students and parents pass through the office, they are greeted by the friendly faces of the secretaries. But, they do so much more than make people feel welcome. 

With a shared desire to help kids receive a better education, the four secretaries work as a united team to ensure that Carlmont runs smoothly. In doing so, they all have a great deal on their plates. 

They are assigned particular aspects of the school to manage, such as sports or facilities, on top of the general work they are expected to do. These duties can sometimes be quite time consuming, taking up a considerable portion of their day. 

“I can’t speak for all secretaries, but my position is to make sure all classes are covered on a daily basis, depending on how many teachers are out with no substitute coverage. This is my priority every morning, and it can sometimes take a whole day just to cover classes. I have had a few days where I literally just did this all day,” said Heidy Bravo, a secretary.

The secretaries’ work consists of just about anything that lacks attention. 

When asked what she does, secretary Terri Plack said, “School secretaries do everything that needs to be done. Our job is to assist our vice principals and our students, but we do everything and anything that needs to be done to keep things running smoothly and making sure that our vice principals, teachers, co-workers, students, and their parents are all taken care of.”

Not only are the secretaries busy with their work, but their desks are also in the center of the office, making it very hectic and leaving foot traffic to be an easy distraction. 

“I do a lot of various little things on the side [and] greet and direct everyone who comes through my front door. I think this was the most difficult thing to do when I started because it was a constant interruption to anything I was working on,” Bravo said. 

Despite the chaos, the secretaries contribute an extraordinary amount of assistance to the school. Even though it is undoubtedly a lot of strenuous work, they are glad to do it as they all have a strong connection with the school and students.

“We all have a deep commitment to the Carlmont community. Our own children attended school here or in the district. It is not just a job to us but a family. We care about the students,” said secretary Annie Eggli, who has 17 years of experience. 

Carlmont’s secretaries all work very passionately to help the students they hold near and dear to their hearts. Though being a Carlmont secretary comes with back-breaking work, it truly does pay off. 

“After working a complete school year at Carlmont, I strongly believe we have to do a lot with the school functioning the whole year. Not only does the staff work hard, they really do care about all of the students, which is fantastic,” Bravo said. “I have had various jobs in my past, but this [job] is very special. My daughter attends a different high school and I hope her school has an outstanding staff as we do here. We try and help where we can and jump in where the help is needed.”