Pulley is shown at the center of the accompanying photo holding her flowers as she is joined by McKoon, left, and Darden.
Jodi Pulley, the secretary and receptionist at E.O. Young Jr. Elementary School in Middleburg, was honored on April 22 as one of only 100 school secretaries from the more than 20,000 nominated nationwide to be named a winner of the Secretary Appreciation Sweepstakes through Scholastic Inc.
Pulley was presented a bouquet of flowers and showered with words of praise by Marylaura McKoon, principal of E.O. Young Jr. Elementary, and Joy Darden, a fifth-grade teacher at the school who nominated Pulley for the sweepstakes recognition. She received recognition for her award appropriately during the national observance of Administrative Professionals’ Day.
Pulley is shown at the center of the accompanying photo holding her flowers as she is joined by McKoon, left, and Darden.
The Secretary Appreciation Sweepstakes were conducted through Scholastics’ Reading Club program. Betsy Howie of the Scholastic Reading Club, informed Darden that Pulley had been selected as a winner based on a wonderful essay Darden wrote describing all of the things Pulley does for the students and staff members at the school.
When Pulley received the bouquet of flowers, a note was attached that read, “Happy Secretary Appreciation Day! Someone from your school told us how special you are and nominated you to receive this bouquet. Enjoy and thank you for all you do!”
Pulley shed a few tears and talked about how much she loves her school and the people in it. “I just love it here and the work I do for the children and the staff,” she said. “They are special people and it is a joy to work here.” She also expressed gratitude for Darden’s kind words in nominating her for the award.
“She is just so deserving,” Darden said. “It was easy to write about her many accomplishments and what she means to our school. We simply couldn’t do things without her here.”
“This is wonderful recognition for Jodi,” McKoon added. “There is not a better school secretary and receptionist anywhere. She is really amazing. She does everything we ask and more. She is always here at the school and knows everything that is going on. She helps at all after school events, PTO meetings and more. She stays late on many days, because she wants to see that things get done for the children and our staff members. There is simply no one who could do a better job than she does.”