By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

As longtime administrative assistant Mary Hendrickx retired from the New York Mills Elementary School in November, a need arose for someone to fill her place in the centrum of the elementary school’s operation. Rural NY Mills resident Megan Schmitz now sits in that seat, making sure everything runs smoothly in that south end of the school building.  ¶  Schmitz previously worked in the office at Kenny’s Candy for seven years and then as a special education paraprofessional in the Perham School District for three years. In an attempt to combine these two professional interests, she was happy to find a position in her own children’s school district that intertwined the two.  ¶  “I really liked the education world,” Schmitz said. “When I transitioned from Kenny’s Candy, I was looking for something that was more aligned with my family’s needs with having kids, so that’s when I became a para. I did that for three years, but I was really looking for something in Mills because my kids go here and we live here too.”

“I really loved being a para,” she continued, “but I did miss the office life, so this was kind of the best of both worlds, being able to work in the school environment and still get to come back to my office roots.”

Schmitz said that from her vantage point in the elementary office with people coming and going and windows on each side of her desk, she loves the ability to watch the school day progress and to see students carry on their tasks each day.

“I love interacting with the kids of all grades, they’re so fun,” she said. “It’s nice getting familiar with the families and there’s kids that come in on a regular basis for various reasons, but there some, like a group of sixth grade girls who come in everyday just to say hi, so that’s really sweet.

“I like to walk laps on my lunch break and it’s the same thing,” she continued. “I see kids they’re just like, ‘hi, Megan!’ and they’re waving, it’s really sweet. Just seeing the kids and getting to interact with them. Also everyone that I work with—all the teachers, staff members, and paras—everyone has been so incredibly welcoming and so nice. Anytime that I have questions, I know who I can go to.”

While Schmitz is still settling in to the job, she said that she is looking forward to learning the elementary students’ names and matching the names to the faces. She knows the impact of simply knowing a student’s name can have on their day, so she hopes to learn as many as she can so that she can greet each and every student who comes in to her office.

“We have 500 kids here in the elementary,” she said. “Getting to know all the different families and it sounds crazy to some people, but it would be so cool to know everyone’s name and face. So that’ll be nice, things will go smoother and kids feel special when you’re able to call them by their name.”

During a typical day, Schmitz’s duties has its day-to-day similarities, from verifying attendance to putting out morning announcements, but she said that she appreciates the differences in each day’s duties.

“You kind of do the same tasks every day, but every day is still different,” she said. “It’s nice, you want to be familiarized with everything, but you don’t want to do the same exact thing every single day.”

Along with her morning duties, Schmitz said that she always has something new to do in the afternoon. Between filing paperwork, answering her phone and email, communicating with the bus department and different teachers, she still has time to learn something new. Recently, that has been learning about state reporting and how to complete MARS paperwork, something she credits Connie Kawlewski in the high school for guiding her through.

“I’m not doing that full time yet, but there’s a lot to learn with all of that,” she said. “Then little by little, trying to make things my own. Everyone has their own system and as I’m getting more comfortable with the position, I’m rearranging the office and things like that. Then before you know it, I’m answering phone calls from parents doing early pickups and transportation changes.”

Schmitz and her husband, TJ, sons Quint and Zander as well as her two dogs, Bolt and Ruko live in rural NY Mills and love to make the most of the warm summers each year. She said that the schedule of a public school employee works well in her favor as she loves to spend time with her family camping, going on walks, vacationing, and tending to her garden in her spare time.

“I have more of a brown thumb than a green thumb,” she joked about her gardening. “But it’s nice to be home with the kiddos in the summer so we can take advantage of the summertime.”