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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Valley Times-News is doing a Q&A with all of the support staff of the year in the Chambers County School System. Today, we are writing about Jessica Scott, the Secretary and Registrar at W.F. Burns Middle School. We asked her 17 questions, and we included some of our favorite responses below.

Jessica Scott is a recognizable figure at W.F. Burns. She is likely the first person you see when entering the middle school, where she has served as the Secretary and Registrar there since 2022.

Scott jumped at the chance to work in the school system to be on the same schedule as her daughters. She was drawn to career path because she has, “Always had so much respect for those in education.”

The support staff of the year recipient has been married to her husband, Bud, for 13 years. They share three daughters together, Sydney (8), Scarlett (5) and Sterling (19 months).

What community activities are you involved in, even outside of the school system? How long have you been involved in that activity? 

“I coach rec cheerleading for Valley Parks and Rec and have been since 2021. I am also an active member of my church, Hopewell Methodist.”

What are your career aspirations? 

“I am a lifelong learner. I plan to continue to take courses that will help me in my current role as well as anything that can help with any future roles within education.”

What hidden talent do you have that might surprise our readers? 

“I LOVE to sew and do various craft projects.”

If you could invite any historical figure to dinner, who would you choose and why? 

“If I could invite any historical figure to dinner, I would choose Leonardo da Vinci because his incredible range of knowledge across art, science, engineering, and anatomy would make for a fascinating conversation.”

What’s the most rewarding part about your job? 

“The most rewarding part of my job is making connections with people. Just getting to be a bright light to someone’s day.”

What’s the most challenging part of your job? 

The hardest part of my job is the fact that I can, at the moment, only speak English. I would love to better understand and help our EL students and parents. Learning a new language is definitely something I would love to do in the future.

What did it mean to you to be named your school’s support staff of the year? 

“To say that being named W.F. Burns Support Staff of the Year is an honor would be an understatement. I am so very thankful to work with such amazing people.”

On a weekend or a summer day when school is out, what are your favorite activities? 

“During the summer you can find me playing at the pool with my kids or going on a beach trip with my family.”

What is a common misconception about your job? 

“I think that people sometimes think that being a secretary means just answering the phones. It is so much more than that. A school secretary is responsible for making sure everything in the school goes smoothly. It may be ordering lunch for staff, listening to a teacher or student when they just need to talk, helping a parent register their child in school when they may not even be familiar with the area, and so much more.”