Taking attendance, making calls, and helping the students are some of the responsibilities held by office staff at Lake Ridge High school. The school office staff was created with the idea that the school secretary, office clerk, and support counselors work as a team to cover their individual duties and fill in when necessary for the overall success of Lake Ridge .

Most students don’t understand what goes on in the office. What most students do understand is that the Attendance Office keeps track of students who are here or absent and the counseling office is composed of counselors with an alphabetically assigned list of students that they help with life schedules or personal struggles for each school year. Guidance counselor, Margie Tyrone, says she understands why students don’t know how the office works due to herself, and co-workers, being more involved out of the spotlight.

“I am a guidance counselor for students if they want to change their schedules or if they need someone to talk to about what’s going on in their life. You don’t really hear from us throughout the school year. The only times students do hear from us is when they’re building their schedules or when they need help with personal problems. We may be counselors, but we are very busy,” said Tyrone.

Another important type of counselor for students, is one who caters to the more personal needs of Lake Ridge Eagles. Lori Cook, support counselor, helps students with their mental health and problems students might have in their life, such as a student passing or just someone to talk to about day-to-day issues. Cook says she has been a support counselor for six years and loves helping students in need.

“I love my job. This is my sixth year being a support counselor and I absolutely love it. I love helping others especially students I need. Mental health is incredibly important to me because I believe we all should be healthy in every way possible. I don’t see myself doing anything else,” said Cook.

Deeper in the halls of Lake Ridge, the attendance staff is just as busy. Their tasks include monitoring and recording which students are absent or present. Some clerks work closely with teachers and school counselors to identify students with attendance issues or other problems to be sure that everyone is accounted for. Attendance clerk, Monica Sanchez, says her job matters and is very important for the school.

“I have to handle correspondence and filing absences or attendance in general. My job involves very busy work and very important. If I don’t do my job correctly I could get in some trouble but I still enjoy working for Lake Ridge and Mansfield Independent School District,” said Sanchez.

Representing a student body involves lots of meetings and back and forth communication, this is why the principals and administrators have their own secretary. They take care of administrative details, schedules appointments, and handle school communication. The school secretary is aware of what’s going on at the school on a day-to-day basis and could be described as their “right-hand”.  Principal Johnson’s secretary, Tracy Franklin, says working as a secretary for the principal is tough but keeps her busy.

“I usually supervise work and do lots of clerical work like answering phone calls from parents or entering data into spreadsheets. Working here for Principal Johnson’s secretary is great. Believe it or not, I really enjoy working here. I really do enjoy what I do. Not only am I keeping myself busy but I’m also helping Principal Johnson make this school a better place,” said Franklin.

Likewise to a teacher who is also a coach or a student with a job outside of school, one might find themselves working twice as hard. Most secretaries say you have to prepare for stress and lots of work. If you’re a secretary for more than one administrator, then you have double the work, phone calls, and schedules. Shade Brice, secretary for Mr. Sypert and Mr. Romaguera, says she doesn’t mind the stress and always prepares herself for lots of work.

“I usually don’t get stressed, but when I do I like to calm myself down, take a couple of deep breaths, and refocus on what I have to do. It rarely happens, but if someone does want to be a secretary and they have to be two secretaries for two different people, then that person has to be really prepared,” said Brice.

The Lake Ridge office staff members are oftentimes the very first faces seen for incoming, students, parents, and guests. They are a systematic, highly organized office that helps all aspects of Lake Ridge in every way possible.