Check-in, check-out: The Front desk diaries

In this episode, we sat down with Upper School Administrative Assistant Mrs. Ippolito about her role at the front desk. Mrs. Ippolito discusses her experience, daily responsibilities and her daily interactions with students and staff. We highlight how Mrs. Ippolito has a daily impact on everyone she interacts with from students to faculty and staff here at Mount Pisgah.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

You are listening to Beyond the Bell, a student-produced podcast from Alpisca Christian School. I'm Peyton Gray, and this podcast is a space where students, teachers, and the whole community can connect. Here we believe every person has a story to tell, and we want to bring those stories to life. In this episode, I will be talking with Upper School Administrative Assistant, Miss Ippolito, about her role at the front desk. Miss Eppolito will break down her experience, daily responsibilities, and her daily interactions with students and staff. How long have you worked here in Montesco?

SPEAKER_00 0:53

This is my fifth year here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Um, what made you choose this job?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

So, um not to bore you with my background, but out of college I was working in advertising, and that was fun and exciting until it wasn't. It started to become a little bit of a grind. So I um quit working once I had my kids and I was a stay-at-home mom for a while, and then when it was time to go back, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back into advertising. So I actually started subbing here because Mrs. A. Liff is my neighbor, and so she had mentioned it. And so when I started subbing, I really enjoyed it, and then one day they needed somebody to cover the front desk just for the afternoon. So I did it and I really enjoyed it. It was it was you just don't really know what to expect. Every day's different, so I kind of liked that because it's not it's not a boring everything's the same every day. So then when the position opened up and they offered it to me, it was it was kind of a no-brainer. I'm like, yeah, absolutely, I'll do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. Um, so I I know you said you have different types of days, but what does a typical day look like for you?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

So when I get in in the morning, um, you know, I I get everything, you know, go through emails, see there's a lot of parent emails of kids that are gonna be absent, gonna be late, um, checking out early, so I'll go through all that, um, get the attendance going. That's that's a big I do with the attendance pretty much all day. So kids that need to check out. I have about 30 alarms set on my phone, so I know to dismiss people at the right time. Um, so yeah, attendance is sort of an ongoing thing throughout the day, but then you know, once the bell rings, then it's checking in tardy kids. You know who you are, kids. Um, you know, I do a lot of the ordering if we need any supplies, um, and then just just kind of a little bit of everything throughout the day. It's it's never the same, you know, handing out medicine if somebody has a headache, it's yeah, a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Um, so how do you handle emergencies or unexpected situations?

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yeah, good question. So that has happened a few times. Uh the main thing is to just um stay calm, you know, don't lose your cool. And usually the first thing I'll do if it's as long as if it's like an emergency and somebody needs medical help, you obviously you would call 911. But most of the time I would just go find um Miss Woods, Dr. Thomas, somebody in the admin office and let them know, hey, we've got this going on, I need some help. And they always come right out and we're able to collectively work through the situation. So, but it's it's really important to just stay calm and not panic.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Um, what do you enjoy most about your role?

SPEAKER_00 3:36

I love interacting with with you kids. Um it's really I love every time kids come in, you know, I'm never quite sure what they're gonna ask, but it's it's just fun to kind of get to talk to all of you and sort of get to know you, even if it's for just a minute at a time. Um I really, really enjoy that. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Um, how do you help new students or visitors feel welcome?

SPEAKER_00 4:00

I just try to be as friendly as possible. You know, just when they come in, hey, you know, so glad you're here, welcome. We're excited, you know, excited to have you, whether it's for a tour or a meeting or whatever, just let them know, yeah, we're we're excited to have you here. And if it's a new student, I just try to tell them as much as I possibly can because I know being a new student can be a little terrifying and overwhelming. So just try to clue them into what's gonna happen throughout the day to make that a little less scary.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Yeah, you do an awesome job of that.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Um can you share a memorable memorable experience you've had while working here?

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Yeah, so convocation. I I just I love convocation, especially the spring one. Um and you know, it's it's memorable each time, but a really memorable one was my own daughter graduated here in 24, so when she went through, it was it was uh it was really emotional. I'm not a big prior, but I definitely I got I got kind of weepy and it was just it was just really, really special. So I just I always look forward to spring convocation and you know, especially when we do the faculty tunnel and the kids come through. It's I just love that part.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Yeah, um last question. What is something that you do at the front desk that people wouldn't think you are a part of?

SPEAKER_00 5:19

So they may or may not know, but I pretty much any any supplies or anything that hits the classrooms or your um dances or anything like that, probably I'm the one that ordered it all. So usually it goes through me if somebody, if a teacher needs extra pencils, pens, paper, or if they want to do a fun project and they need supplies for it, I'm usually the one ordering it, and then um when the credit card statement comes in, I have to kind of assign a code to it so Miss Woods knows how much we're spending in each area and keeping us on track for our budget.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Yeah. Alright, thank you for your time.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

That wraps up our conversation about her role at the front desk and how she makes the school thrive. A big thank you to our guest, Miss Ipaludo, for sharing her insight and experience with us. As the school year comes to the final stretch, we know that Miss Ipaludo will continue to help us check in or out and give us candy when we need it. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to follow us on Spotify Podcast. And if you have an idea for a future episode, send us a message on Instagram at NPCS LibertyBell. Thanks for listening to Beyond the Bell, and we'll see you soon.