‘You’re Gonna Miss This’

Joanne Coustenis, High School Secretary Extraordinaire, officially retires today. March 11, 2009, a last day after 30 plus years of first days of school, Regents exams, graduations, attendance, tardy slips, excuses, GPA calculations, new teachers, old teachers, too many administrators and several dear friends.

I had the pleasure of working first hand with Mrs. Coustenis as high school principal when I was at Randolph from 2002-2004 and she was my secretary. I found her to be professional and thorough as you would hope a secretary would be but that’s not what made her so special. What made our relationship special is that I knew she had my back. I knew she was paying attention, thinking about what we (I) could do better, taking a proactive approach to identify issues before they became problems, and telling me ‘what was what’ when I needed to hear it. Our open communication led to a friendship that I value still and from Joanne I learned a lot about the importance of building a good relationship with my secretary. Thanks Jo!

Think about the incredible number of people she’s worked with during her years of service to the district. The phone calls taken, the angry parents listened to, the crying kids waiting to see a principal for discipline, and the all too often ungrateful people who took their frustration out on the secretary at the front desk, Joanne. (That’s all you now, Tammy and Becky!)

You know, the main office secretaries in any school are our first line of contact with our community in a zillion different ways. Joanne came to school every day to keep the place humming. She made sure everyone had the information they needed, along with virtually everything else that was asked of her. Think about this for a moment: Joanne (and every main office secretary like her) has been the most likely member of our school community to have to make the first line decision about what to do and who to call if a threat comes through our phone lines or if a ruckus occurs in the hallway or on a bus. For some of our Randolph Writes readers, I bet she even covered your butt a time or two. 😉 She mans the radios, keeps track of all of us, and hopes it all comes out right at the end of the day.

I cannot emphasize enough how much our success rides on the competent support staff in our school offices. Thank you Joanne, for many years of smooth openings and memorable graduations. You have left an indelible mark on Randolph Central School, one that will remain for many more years than we were fortunate enough to have you here. Job Well Done!