On April 19, 2012 I am an inspirational speaker for the OASBO School Support Staff Conference.
The event, held in Downtown Toronto Ontario- will host over 250 school support staff working in elementary and secondary school settings and school education business offices.
School support staff manage a lot of deadlines and need to be excellent at prioritizing to accomplish everything with dwindling resources. They are the official front line point of contact at school.
Daily, a school secretary is concerned with:
Attendance. When a student doesn't show up for school they get on the phone to the parents to find out where they are.
Teachers. If a teacher is absent or fallen sick, they get occasionals secured and manage a back up list of potentially available teachers.
Emergencies. If an accident or emergency occurs at school, they notify EMS if necessary and contact parents.
Data Reporting. One of the major ongoing tasks the school support staff deal with is ONSIS, which is the schools data reporting to the ministry. In collaboration with the principal, they must collect from other staff members (ie- teachers) relevant and timely information about student attendance (and much more elaborate data). School support staff compile these reports 3 times per year and it is always on the to do list.
With these deadlines and emergencies that creep up daily, school support staff must be great at prioritizing. These days in most school districts, student enrollment is down which means budgets are also cut. Many school staff face the prospects of downsizing.
The other inspirational speaker for the school support staff is Susan Stewart doing her motivational speech called, Live Well, Laugh Lots.
The conference has two humorous inspirational speakers for the school support staff giving motivational speeches about laughter. Apparently they need the stress relief!
Discover the Wellness Benefits of Laughter.
