By Nicole Souza
Staff Writer
Handling attendance, tardy passes, and numerous phone calls are just some of the jobs Westford Academy administrative assistant Linda Mahoney has to do throughout her day. She says that the assistants she works with are “an amazing group” of which she is happy to be a part.
Mahoney started out as a special education teaching assistant, working with Dean Mike Parent for fourteen years. When the principal’s secretary wanted to retire, Mahoney did not jump at the opening right away. But after she was asked multiple times, she finally gave in, applied, and got the job. She worked as a principal’s secretary for four years, working with multiple heads of school such as William McGuirk and James Antonelli before applying for attendance secretary. She got involved with her occupation because she wanted to be available when her kids were at home.
Not only does she answer the phone constantly, Mahoney has had to learn about three different systems for her job, such as iPass, which she had to go to a class to learn about. Luckily the systems were easier to work with over time. Mahoney also says that the administration is great, and that there is “constant change” going on around her.
On a typical day, Mahoney comes in early to walk with another administrative assistant Kathie Ablondi in the morning. She listens to about 150-175 messages per day. If it’s an especially crazy day, for example a Senior Skip Day, she starts to listen to her messages at home sometimes as early as 4:30am. Last year during February break, it was a “nightmare”, as she had to start listening to the messages the day before and did not put the phone down all day. She listened to about 800-900 phone messages in just that day alone.
Mahoney’s favorite part of the job is “dealing with the kids.” She both gently and sarcastically gives them a hard time for coming in late.
“I love seeing the kids,” she says.
She has her “frequent flyers” and the “tardy club”, and reminds those who are late that school starts at 7:35am. Mahoney also has a call list, where she calls students at 6:30am and sings good morning to them to wake them up. She is also heard saying “I’m old,” a good number of times a day.
“She’s a delight” secretary administrative Kathie Ablondi comments. She said that Mahoney is known to help students with upcoming tests, with her forte being vocabulary. Ablondi also added Mahoney is the heart of the secretarial staff and that she is very good at what she does, adding a lot of humor to it as well.
Wonder why she has a bowl of jolly ranchers on her desk? Mahoney says that it’s not to reward those who come in late, but sometimes those candies can make someone’s day, and making a difference is very important to her.
It was also pointed out that every administrative assistant has a chair next to their desk, for staff or students. Mahoney says that they are like an extended guidance counselor. “We are here,” she says if anyone needs anything. “It’s a comfortable place to land”, and “we’ll get them what they need.”
It’s “not always easy” she says, but she tries her hardest to get the job done right.
