Day in the life of house assistants

Samo is a huge school. With over 3,000 conglomerated students and staff; it takes many villages to get everything in order. And the people (/heros/fearless employees in the face of adolescent train wrecks) behind Samo, are the house assistants. From dealing with freaked out freshmen to reminding seniors that school is mandatory while writing readings, the assistants do a lot. This is a look into their world.We asked each house assistant:“What is your day usually like?”“What is the most difficult part of your day?”“What is one thing no one would know/ expect that a house assistant does?” M - Diana Morales“It’s very hectic; I have my daily deadlines that I have to meet. Anything from students coming in for being absent or leaving early, to attendance clearances. Catching up on work is always difficult. I work late about 2-3x per week just to catch up on. It might look like we’re not doing anything, but we’re really doing a lot,” Morales said. O - Eileen Gilbert“The biggest piece of it is attendance, the emails, the notes from parents, early dismissals, putting in the absences and all of that. Helping students with questions or concerns when they come in, if they need to see their advisor is a lot to juggle. I can’t really say there’s a hardest thing about this job, but I think part of what makes it hard is when I see kids that are in a crisis or suffering a little bit with school. That’s kinda hard because you don’t like to see anyone unhappy. The students really have no idea about the amount of work we have to do all day long. Trying to support the house principles, the advisors, the teachers and the students is just a lot to handle,” Gilbert said.  I - Chaneé Washington“When I come in, I look for missing attendance from the previous day from our teachers. I have to do an email, I have messages, I have to check Ms. Markussen’s calendar. My day consists mostly of attendance, at any point I could be interrupted from what I’m doing because of a suspension or to assist with a bag check. I feel like the hardest part of my job is trying to tell parents that just because they are generous enough to donate to our school, it does not mean that their child has priority in things such as attendance or ‘special grading.’. There are people that can donate and their are people that cannot. No child should get special treatment just because their parents can afford donating to the school.” Washington said.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ms. Chanee’ Washington, I house assistant, has been working at Samo for almost 18 years. During her day, her daily tasks include, “Attendance. Attendance. Attendance” Washington said. Additionally, she daily has parents coming in, dropping off crucial items for their students. Items such as, their favorite pencil. Throughout her years at Samo, she’s seen six students seizing in front of her, been verbally abused (cussed-out) by students for not opening a classroom, and received desktop-sized paper re-admits from parents. In other words, she’s been through it all.And after spending the day in the house offices, it became clear that assistants are the uncapped-heroes of Samo. From radios going off, to mental breakdowns in and out and constantly clearing attendances for “sick” kids; the house assistants do it all. Organization is key. When juggling over 570 students each, having order helps. And while dealing with stressed students everyday could be enough to drive anyone over the edge, the house assistants do their jobs with smiles. They are the heart of Samo and we are lucky to have them.