Deborah Butler a Secretary at Still Middle School

Deborah Butler is a secretary for Still Middle School in Aurora. She works in an office at the school and is the go-to-girl. She’s had this job for only about a year, but has made herself comfortable. She is part of the complicated net of educational workers that make school possible, and of course fun!

What, exactly, do you do for your job?
I am an administrated assistant for Still Middle School, basically a secretary. There are many parts to my job. I am responsible for entering purchase orders for the school, which means buying sporting equipment or any other small thing the school needs. I also schedule buses for fieldtrips. I know it sounds boring, but I actually find it quite fun! Well, I also have to track all the administrations work times. I have to make sure your teachers hours are correct and keep track of their sick days. My big responsibility is with the schools money. I’m responsible for all the money that comes into the school, whether it is fieldtrip money or fees. The worst part of my job is managing the copy machine, which is constantly in need of fixing.

Is office work boring like they say?
No, because there is a variety of things to do at the school. I have to interact with students, teachers, and parents’ every day, and trust me every day is different in a middle school!

Is there any teamwork associated with your job?
Actually, there kind of is! I often work with the other ladies in the office. Basically, we help each other out, whether it be answering the phone or writing a student a pass when they are busy. We are kind of like a tiny team!

How much do you earn as a secretary? And how do you earn it?
I don’t make much. I make about 30,000 dollars a year, like I said not much! I’m paid hourly, so about 15 dollars an hour. I guess it’s better than some jobs.

How many hours a week do you work?
I have to work 40 hours a week. They discourage overtime, so I usually don’t do much extra work. It’s a busy week, but luckily I get weekends off and school holidays as well!

What are the downfalls of being a secretary?
I’m not my own boss! I have to take orders and follow them. But mainly the worst part is that the work can get easy because it’s a lot of repetitive work! Filling papers and answering calls from frantic parents day after day! Sometimes collecting registration fees can be difficult, to say the least. The actual phone calls, in attempt to collect registration fees, are the worst!



Overall, do you enjoy your job?
Overall…yes, because every day is different, like I said! There’s a huge variety of interesting people that I get to meet! There are always new problems that I have to figure out, a lot of them involving the dreaded copy machine! So yes, overall I do enjoy my job!