By: Ashley Havenner and Aaron Merritt

Although the Wheat Ridge High School office staff plays a key role in running the school, the jobs in which they partake seem to be a mystery to many students.

Some see the administrators and counselors as busy bodies, constantly working to improve their students’ educations, and others are not quite sure what goes on inside the walls of these mystery offices. These unknown answers spark some curiosity and questioning of the work the administrators and counselors put in to run the Farm smoothly. After a few hours of following multiple counselors, and one office administrator taking on the job of five,  an inside look at these jobs gave answers many have been aching for.

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, while seniors were taking their first round of CMAS, assistant principal, Nick DeSimone spent his day running the office and doing all five of the administrators’ jobs. Surprisingly his day was laid back, and with normally having at least five kids visiting him just for his job, he was shocked to only have three students come in for all grades.  DeSimone said his day is normally pretty hectic, handling security, athletics, scheduling, a dose of 500 to 800 emails every day, over seeing the science department along with a few others, and of course attending to the seniors at Wheat Ridge.

DeSimone’s day can be pretty stressful depending on the events that take place. It can depend on how a student reacts during a meeting, whether it be related to behavior, grades, attendance, etc. His stress levels may also rise when fundraisers are going on, like The Pink Showdown that took place last month.

DeSimone says, “You’ve got bills, and I’m trying to do a fundraiser and we’re not making enough on the fundraiser and you know that you need it. I mean that’s a different kind of stress.”  Although shirts at Wheat Ridge sold like crazy during lunch, Golden High School was not fond of the design and sold very few shirts on their account, making it hard for Wheat Ridge to gain back the money it spent to make the event possible.

Some other stresses occur when school lockdowns and drills are taking place, as he organizes them all and sometimes students are not where they need to be during the drills.

DeSimone also has the tedious job of organizing and scheduling all school events, whether it be sport or senate related, or really any event going on at the school. He is very involved with events, as he is the one who everyone sees when it comes to organizing them and is also the one making sure security is taken care of and the events can be safe. He also needs to consider the turnouts of certain events, such as the winter social senate is planning, which will be outside.  \

“The stuff you don’t think about is like, you’re going to have kids, probably from other schools, or our school. They’re gonna come and hang out across the street, probably smoking dope and theres nothing you can do about it,”DeSimone said. He needs to think about the people living in the school area and how different events could benefit or cause complaints within the neighborhood.

DeSimone says he is most proud that “we have done well athletically but at the same time our students here, in my mind, are just growing up a lot better.” Although the most difficult part of his job is being away from his family, “this is a different school.” DeSimone has been around to several different schools such as Standley Lake High School and Golden High School, and Wheat Ridge by far has been the school he’s been at longest, and is definitely his favorite. Although to many he seems to just  be a man just sitting behind a desk, replying to email after email, he is a man who helps keep Wheat Ridge afloat and having fun.

Counselors also play a large role here in keeping Wheat Ridge High School running. Counselors in middle schools deal with grades, schedules, students personal issues, along with parent and teacher issues. Here in high school the counselors do the same. Unlike middle school counselors, high school counselors seem to be busy way more often.

When Counselors Lisa Berens and Amanda Olenberger, and the counselor office staff were followed, it was found that they were constantly dealing with new students’ schedules, all students’ grades, credits and much more. The counselors kept communication strong and on topic with few off topic conversations that did not keep them from getting the job done. So many students had been questioning what counselors do any how hard the job is that it was a surprise that the counselors were working hard the whole time.

When talking to Berens, she said that there are different stress levels that the counselors have to deal with. The stress varies from problem to problem as the counselors are resolving them to make the school a better place. When Berens was asked what her favorite part of her job was, she responded, “helping kids and knowing that I can impact their lives whether it be grades or with personal issues.” Many students would not expect an answer like that, but it brings warmth knowing that students have a staff that truly cares about their kids not only as students, but also as people.

Now counselors’ job is never as easy as one might think. Student’s problems can be serious. Counselors have to find out how to deal with all the problems a student may be facing, even suicidal issues. The fact that they have to deal with that while keeping calm is amazing.

When  counselors cannot help a student, they point them in need in the right direction to receive help. A student came into Berens to get help for college applications, a form that seniors have to turn in soon. Berens helped the student look for the right colleges for his interests and budget. She also helped him with scholarship applications. The whole time she stayed positive, and it seemed she was able to motivate the student.

The counselors keep a professional environment. They treated the students with respect, which is not always easy especially when a student is defiant or if the student is acting immature.

Anyone visiting the office may not always realize how dedicated and hardworking the staff is. Many do not think of the work that goes into keeping Wheat Ridge High School and its students alive and happy. After a day of following the footsteps of one of the administrators and a few of the counselors, it is without a doubt obvious that the office staff is there to help the students in many ways. Their jobs are not simple, but the outcome of their efforts is always something to be proud of not only by them, but the students as well.