Equus

Attendance secretary keeps things light in CHS office

Friday, March 02, 2012 By Kyndal McAnulty

By Kyndal McAnulty Associate editor Going through four years of high school and occasionally being tardy, students learn to love seeing attendance secretary Mrs. Deb Nelson’s smiling face at the front desk. Whether she cracks a joke at our expense or sarcastically says, “Now, why were you late today?” a trip to the attendance desk seemingly never is a bad one. “My favorite part of being the attendance secretary is being around the kids, easily,” Nelson said. “I’ve heard some real doozies for excuses, but I try to understand every student’s situation.” Now in her fourth year as the attendance secretary, Nelson is on a different path than she expected. “I went to school for finance because I took accounting and business classes in high school and they were easy for me,” Nelson said. Nelson said her main reason in taking the secretary position was being able to spend more time in the summer with her children, Kiffany and Chase, as both were involved in sports and always traveling. “Chase called me and told me he had pitched the best game of his life,” Nelson said. “I had three weeks of vacation down and was told I couldn’t go watch my son in the championship. “It was then I told the ladies [at the Department of Motor Vehicles] that I would be needing to look for a new job and I left. Six weeks later I came to the school.” Mornings in the front office are hectic, added Nelson, but having a student helper always has been a positive part of the job. “I love being in the front office with her [Nelson],” office assistant senior Nicole Hough said. Many people have connected well with Nelson in her four years as a CHS staff member. Among those are Guidance Office Secretary Mrs. Kristi Hufty. “It’s a lot of fun being around her because she is a pretty happy person and she makes everyone happy around her,” Hufty said. Even Nelson’s own son makes up wild excuses and tries to sweet talk her, only making her day even more interesting, Nelson added. “Well, my son’s best excuse for being tardy was that he had too many ducks to clean from hunting that morning,which actually was the truth,” Nelson said. As a freshmen, Chase Nelson, Nelson’s youngest, said his mom coming to work at the high school was a difficult transition. “As a freshman, you don’t want to be noticed as the attendance lady’s kid, let alone noticed at all,” Chase said. But as a senior now, Chase is glad his mom works at the high school. “I can depend on her for a lot of things now and all I have to do is go to the front office,” Chase said. Nelson doesn’t intend on leaving Cody High School anytime soon. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be a good wife and mother,” Nelson said. “And as long as I can do that well, I plan to stay here.”