Many outsiders mistakenly believe that the people who run the school are the
administrators. But those who spend their days toiling away within the hallowed halls of
learning know the truth: the folks who keep the wheels on the bus at school are the
secretaries. And after nine years of keeping things going, first at the elementary, and
then at the high school, Roberta Morgan has decided to hang up her super heroine
cape and retire.
Morgan came to work at Marietta Public Schools as the elementary secretary after a
lengthy and successful career in the corporate world.
“I was very blessed in my banking career, but I was ready to slow things down and have
the chance to spend more time with the grandkids,” she said. The joke was on her
because she soon learned that school is anything but slower when you’re running the
office. Morgan had heard through the grapevine that much-beloved elementary
secretary Mary Kay Thompson was retiring, so she called Thompson, who told her to
apply.
“I’ve joked many times that I thought I would be working at a different pace, having left a
position where I was responsible for the retail functions at several banks, and doing that
with a personal secretary,” Morgan remembered. “What I found is that I was busier than
ever. I was blessed to be trained by the best. Mary Kay loved her job, and she passed
on that love and as much experience as she could in just a month’s time.”
Anyone who ever knew or worked with Thompson understood she’s a national treasure,
and Morgan was no exception.
“When I first learned I had gotten the job I was telling one of my bank co-workers who
was a Marietta grad about it,” mused Morgan. “She said, ‘Roberta, I don’t much
remember the teachers I had, but I always remember the love I got from Mary Kay
Thompson,’ and I realized then just how important the job is.”
Morgan remembers her first days on the job, particularly the notes she received from
students to welcome her.
“I’m pretty sure the first year I had the deer-in-the-headlights look the whole year,” she
laughed, “and I still have all those sweet notes and mementos given to me over the
years by students and staff, something for my children to have to clean out one day.”
Through the years, Morgan gained her sea legs, and became the brave and efficient
secretary that her administrators and co-workers came to rely on. She learned to juggle
the many components of her job: secretarial duties, unofficial nurse, bulletin board
maintenance, official office hugger, and the myriad of other things that are required to
keep an office organized and operational, and through the process, she gained the love
of students, parents, and staff.
“You can’t put a value on the love you feel when you are at the grocery store and a
student calls out, ‘Hi, Mrs. Morgan!’ and comes running with arms open wide,” said
Morgan. “My husband joked that before we couldn’t go anywhere without running into
someone I knew from the bank, and now we can’t go anywhere without running into a
kid from school.”
After she’d been on the job for a while, her work ethic, attitude, and ability to get things
done came to the attention of Superintendent Brandi Naylor, who asked Morgan to take
on the additional responsibilities of being administrator for the school’s data system and
website, including social media.
“Mrs. Naylor felt it was time for a website refresh, and that came with a new app that
made the most critical information available for i-Phone and Android users,” Morgan
explained, “and I also worked with the school’s PIO to add stories about Marietta
schools. I hope that parents have found that they’re able to stay better informed.”
Morgan also answers the general email, contactus@mariettaisd.org, became the
schools data system expert, and – to the gratitude of parents – streamlined the
enrollment process so it can be done online.
This year, Morgan made the decision to move to the high school. Her youngest
grandchild had finished elementary and the eldest is a high school junior, and Morgan
thought that the move would mean she’d be able to see them more. Again, she made
the necessary transition and enjoyed the added benefit of being able to see all the
students who came through the elementary while she was there.
“For the first week of school, my granddaughter did not acknowledge me in the office,”
laughed Morgan, “and although all those former students won’t hug me anymore, they
will joke with me and dance to the music in between classes with me, and just make my
heart happy to see how great they have grown up to be.”
And now, Morgan has decided to make another transition. After nine years with the
district, her next move will be retirement. Her decision hasn’t been particularly well
received at school, but it is respected. Morgan will miss the friendships she’s made and
all the kiddos she’s helped to raise, but her eldest granddaughter will be a senior next
year, and Morgan wants to be free to thoroughly enjoy all of the activities that come
along with that.
“Mrs. Morgan has been a blessing to Marietta Public Schools,” said Superintendent
Brandi Naylor, “and she will be greatly missed.”