Cheryl Smith's faith helps keep Mills Elementary School front office warm, welcoming
MANATEE -- Once a week, Cheryl Smith meets with a friend out on Snead Island at 6 in the morning.
It's a quiet time of prayer and reflection before the hustle and bustle begins, even though Smith readily admits she isn't a morning person. About three years ago, the same time she became the clerical secretary at Virgil Mills Elementary School, Smith began praying for the same thing each week.
"Give me joy."
Joy is what Smith brings to the front office each and every school day. It's part of what makes the 44-year-old Parrish resident a contender for the support employee of the year award given out each year by the Manatee County School District.
"Anybody that walks through that door, I'm the first face they see," Smith said.
Jack of all trades
A secretary's job is a little bit of everything.
"I go from answering the phones, to taking care of the mail and I sometimes take a cup of coffee to a teacher's classroom if they need it," Smith said.
At her busiest, in the mornings, Smith makes copies; answers phones; greets parents, volunteers and students; and, after the bell rings, helps sign in students who are late -- greeting some of the repeat offenders by name. During the day, it dies down a little, but Smith stays busy with other tasks.
She loves organizing, making de
posits -- "Isn't that crazy?" -- and cleaning. When pressed, Smith said cleaning out the refrigerator is her least favorite task.
This year, Smith has also taken on the before- and after-school care programs in addition to her regular duties. She's transformed them, putting a certified teacher and paraprofessional into every group, to make sure students get some additional academic work as well as some free time. On any given day, 30 to 35 students are in each program.
"The teachers have really rallied behind me in the program," Smith said.
Smith and her husband, Allen, are also the duo behind some of the school's most impressive decorations. Each year, the administration sets a theme for the upcoming year, which is reflected in teachers' classrooms and schoolwide activities. Previous examples include space and western; this year is about sports and teamwork. Smith and her husband created a bull that moved for the western theme. For this year, they created 12-foot silhouettes of famous athletes that adorn the front entrance.
"It sets the stage," said principal Mike Rio, who praised Smith for her dedication to the school.
The decorations are done as volunteer time, and Smith and her husband feverishly spend the last few days of summer before teachers return preparing all the decorations. This year, Smith's father died right before the school year started. Her husband picked her up at the airport when she returned from the services and they went straight to work at the school east of Interstate 75 and Palmetto.
"I wanted to make sure that theme was displayed for the teachers on their first day," Smith said.
'150 percent'
Smith's spirit is captivating and contagious, Rio said. A teacher recently told him that at Mills Elementary, employees can't give 100 percent, they have to give 150 percent.
"She's a perfect example of that," Rio said.
Over the summer, Smith and her family took a nine-day mission trip to Haiti. Her husband is a pastor at The Bridge Church in Venice, and Smith says following her faith is a big part of how she lives her life. With their two children, both students at Palmetto High School, they spent the trip learning about the impoverished country and helping others.
"It was an eye-opener," she said. "You forget how good you have it."
Smith tries now not to forget. Before the winter break, one of the school's volunteers lost her husband. Smith didn't know the volunteer very well, just helping her sign in and out when she came through the school entrance and the normal chit-chat associated with that, but Smith wrote her a note after the woman's husband died.
"There's a connection, even if I only see her for a minute or two," she said.
It's the same reason Smith makes an effort to learn as many names of the more than 1,000 students in the school as possible. Certain students, who end up in the office or come tardy often, are easy names for Smith to remember, but Smith said she also tries to get out of the school building.
Occasionally, she will go watch the youth baseball leagues in the area. The students often have that moment, when they realize that teachers and school employees do have a life outside the building's walls, and it's amusing for Smith.
"Just because I work here doesn't mean that's where it stops," she said.
When students, parents and staff walk in the door, Smith has a natural ability to make them feel welcome.
"People know she cares about them. She has a natural ability to connect. She's really living out her faith. It oozes out," Rio said.
Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 11:13 PM with the headline "Cheryl Smith's faith helps keep Mills Elementary School front office warm, welcoming ."