Although students in office aid may view it as a simple break in the day, they are constantly called upon to perform numerous tasks that are important to the school.
“I took office aid so I can catch up on my work and to finally have a chill class in my schedule,” senior office aid Peyton Mogley said.
Office aids are students who have a period in their schedule that they can use to help around the office of administrators such as Mr. Mike Roth. There are a number of people that feel the same way as Mogley about office aid. You can “chill.” One of those people is senior Nathan Biggs, who is one of Dr. Sarah Power’s office aids.
“It’s second semester senior year,” Biggs said. “Gotta take it easy.”
Nathan feels this way because his days of office aid consist of jobs like bringing passes to students in various classes and distributing supplies. These activities give the students plenty to do on a daily basis though.
“I haven’t really worked with [Mr. Fast] all that much,” Mogley said. “I really just run errands for Mrs. Burch [Fast’s secretary] and Mr. Roth.”
The office aids stay busy with all those errands but still have some free time. Although it may seem like the students need the office aid for the free time, the office needs the students for the extra help.
“It’s a nice luxury,” athletic director Mr. Mike Roth said. “They help make things run smoothly.”
Roth is appreciative for a reason. There are enough tasks that they begin to pile up and become time consuming. According to Powers, the office aids’ work gives her time for the bigger obligations that come with an administration position.
“The biggest thing is knowing that you have support,” Powers said. “They can get things done that I don’t have time to do.”
Powers puts that time to use. She recalled a time earlier this year when she needed to make a list of kids taking ACT prep and, instead of taking hours to type up the list, was able to use that time to look at important data on the students.
Although the administrators are willing to hand tasks such as typing up lists to their office aids, they still want those jobs done well. So they don’t let just any student have a spot in the office.
“I have said no to students with bad grades,” Powers said. “If they need help in their classes then they need to focus on that.”
As well as students struggling with grades, students with attendance issues will also be denied because the office needs them present most days.
On the days when the office doesn’t need the aids, the students will have some free time. How the kids spend that free time may have some hidden benefits.
“When the kids go to college they will have free time,” Powers said. “It prepares them for what they need to do with that free time.”
Students and teachers alike can be thankful for office aid due to the support that it provides on a daily basis.
“It’s nice to have them around,” Roth said.
