Saturday, December 5, 2015

Get to Know A Mighty Hawk - Principal's Secretary Angela Kessler

Each month the Lucas PTO is featuring a teacher or staff member on the Mighty Hawk Messenger blog. This month we spoke with Angela Kessler, Principal Ken Turnis' secretary. 

Photography generous donated by Lucas parent Amanda Monday, owner of BirdsDream Design



When I walk the kids to school, I always notice two matching trucks in the staff parking lot. Which two teachers have the same tastes in Ford F-150s?   

Ha! That would be Mr. Turnis and me.  Mine goes faster and can throw mud farther.  

I heard sometimes your truck doubles as a school bus. Can just anyone give a student a ride home from school? 

Not everyone can give students a ride home, just the privileged people. The District requires that you take a safe driving course through Durham to give rides home to students. It is not required that secretaries take the course but it comes in handy to be able to do so when someone needs a ride.


With the university and other demographic factors, the student population at Lucas can often be in flux. In an average week, roughly how many students transfer into or out of Lucas? What steps to you take to ease their transition? 

On average we transfer 4.77 students in or out of Lucas Elementary. This year has been higher than in the past. Knowing in advance that a student is leaving is always helpful for the student. I try to make sure that all teachers are aware of the transition date so they can assist and help the student with closure in leaving and saying goodbye to friends. Some things that I try to do to help the children with the transition is to find out where they are going and call the school to tell the secretary that they are coming. Sometimes I give the student envelopes and stamps so we can write letters back and forth. I’ve sent cards with the records to the students so they get something when they get to their new school. Every student is so different, so it depends on the student. 

What was the most unexpected thing that ever happened to you at work? 

I have sooooo many stories of unexpected things. Probably the MOST unexpected thing was the marriage proposal. I had a kindergartener boy ask me if I would marry him when he was older, like when he got to 3rd grade.   

Before you landed at Lucas I hear you were jetting all over the world as director of purchasing and a global project manager. What was your most exotic destination?  

Well, I’ve been to 20 countries. The most exotic….. Greece maybe. Turkey was a little scary. A few of my favorites are Slovakia, Italy and Japan.

Your Halloween costumes are the stuff of legend. What was your favorite? 

Scooby Doo for sure. The only downfall was that no one knew it was me. Cindy Loo Hoo was fun too.

Inquiring minds want to know if there is any family link between you and 1st grade teacher Ann Kessler. 

Good question, I might have to look into this. As far as we know there is not, but I might have to get on Ancestry.com to see. 

Would you describe an average day in the Lucas office? 

They are all very unique and exciting. I am not sure that I could describe just one. Someday I will write a book… Our day always starts with smiling faces and a little hustle and bustle. We enjoy that so much that we do it again at the end of the day!

Other posts in this series: 

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