Every day for nearly the past four years, I’ve walked up the same set of stairs, entering the free for all war zone that is Boston Latin Academy. While I walk by a new set of people daily, the front office has its recurring cast of wonderful receptionists. Inside, two employees work day to day to help connect the people outside the school to those either teaching or learning there.
Diana Pomales, whom I refer to as Ms. Pomales, is one of two said front desk workers at Boston Latin Academy that I’ve been volunteering for on and off for a few weeks now. My interest in her story peaked when she told me what she did before having a job at BLA. So I continued with questions that revealed her amazing past and what led her here.
“I finished high school, went to business school, then went to train to be an EMT, I had many workshops for autism and behavioral sciences, and then I came here. ” To the general public, they wouldn’t be expecting such a rich history of experiences from someone working in the front ends of BLA, but during her time as an EMT, she was considered first aid at many different events such as outings with individuals with autism, elderly field trips, taught workshops, etc. “I chaperoned their day trips to act as the attending medical person in charge of nutrition intake and reminding them of taking meds and safety while boarding the bus and how to properly exit the bus/van.” She found it very rewarding as working as an EMT, she was never put in harm’s way while still being able to provide for people who need it the most.
Pomale’s love to help and provide aid for others continued when she decided to change professions due to her wanting to spend more time and care for her son who had been diagnosed with autism. This led her to work within the Boston Public Schools system, which allowed her more free time to spend with her son. “My son has autism so, the school hours worked better, when he was off for holidays or break I would be off as well.”
When transitioning away from the medical field she told me it had been easy since she had people skills from her time as an EMT, and had already been volunteering at BLA beforehand, which eventually led to her being hired there permanently.
Day to day, Pomales works around eight hours, during which she handles everything from faxes, phone calls, directing visitors, and more. Not only does she perform her job with a steadfast mindset, she truly cares about the people that come in and out of the building. To her, “…staff that love their jobs, safety for everyone in the building, I think that’s a well-oiled school right there.” She hopes people recognize the amount of care that she and her colleagues bring to running the front end of the school because to her front desk representation is extremely important, “because it’s the first thing any student, staff, or parent sees when visiting, so I think when it comes to the grand scheme of the school, it’s very important.”
Her job isn’t perfect however, there are still many complications and intricacies that come along with operating the main office. Ms. Pomales, however, finds the most difficult part of the job is, “Whenever there have been upset parents and they want resolutions for students not complying for safety reasons, that’s the most difficult position I’ve been put under.” But even with these difficulties, she still tries her best at communicating with said parents, wanting the best from their interactions and providing as much as she can.
With not only my conversations but with my volunteering in the main office as well, I now have a much greater appreciation for what I originally saw as just desk workers, not even knowing much about what great work the main office staff does to maintain a functional school. I’m sure that my way of thinking is not rare, and I hope that by writing about Pomales, more awareness is spread about the importance of the main office workers in our system. Without them, our schools would not be running as efficiently as they could be. If they come in every day ready to provide for our school, the least we can do is give a smile and say thank you in return, because to Pomales, “It’s rewarding, just to see students and families praising the school and the activities that happen in this school.”
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