Camas High School’s (CHS) administrative women are consistently hard at work to make sure subject curriculum, testing schedules, school events, and even more run as smoothly as possible. To celebrate Women’s History Month, their efforts and contributions to the school are highlighted and appreciated.

Kelly O’Rourke, the CHS principal, has been working at the school for the past four years. She predominantly works with the administrative team and matters affecting CHS as a whole. She also conducts teacher observations and student disciplinary actions. On top of her administrative tasks, she keeps up with the school’s culture by interacting with both teachers and students.

“As a principal, you have to have your pulse on all the parts of a school, but you can’t micromanage it,” O’Rourke said. “You’ll go crazy because there’s only so many hours in the day.”

The associate principals at CHS are delegated different responsibilities to run many various aspects of the school that O’Rourke cannot oversee on her own.

Seanna Pitassi primarily manages the school curriculum, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) testing, and the English department. She also works closely with the school counselors during the forecasting weeks to make sure that students have the correct amount of credits by the graduation date.

Darci Jones’ primary role is focused on the students and the special education program. This year, she is working with students to support them in the academic space and is organizing Advanced Placement (AP) testing.

“A lot of my day right now is spent focusing on making sure that our two weeks of AP testing runs smoothly and is ready to run … about 1,850 AP exams,” Jones said.

For Pitassi and Jones, these intricate tasks are no easy feat, particularly when the testing seasons come up. However, the associate principals are far from alone when it comes to their jobs. The administrative assistants help lighten the load by managing the administrators’ schedules and taking over some of their tasks when it becomes necessary.

Beth Filion, the CHS main office head secretary, has supported every principal as their assistant throughout the past 20 years. She also coordinates meetings with teachers, parents, and students, meets with the substitute teachers to delegate substitute work, coordinates with new and leaving employees, and manages the school’s budget.

Brandy Reed is Pitassi’s administrator assistant as well as the CHS cheerleading team coach. Alongside her given tasks, she plans the Daily Bulletin, Student Support Time, the Pride Inside awards, and graduation events.

As expectations at home continue alongside full-time careers, many women face challenges finding a balance between both roles.

“There’s this expectation that you’re a mom, you’re a wife, [and] you got to take care of the kids, but then you’ve got a job with so much responsibility.” O’Rourke said. “How do you do both?”

When it comes to bringing the work home, the administration team agreed upon finishing duties in the office before returning home. Pitassi, who recently returned to the office after six months of maternity leave, described her experience with balancing her job while raising her children at home.

“We’re pretty busy at home and it really does mean that I have to do all the things I need to do here because once I get home, I’m not really able to look at my email or do work,” Pitassi said. “It means during the day, I have to be really organized.”

Some of the administration team observed that they did not feel a personal impact from Women’s History Month. However, everyone acknowledged the importance of celebrating women’s achievements throughout history.

“[My cheer team] does spend the month of January looking at women,” Reed said. “We talk a lot about women’s rights … and also about the powerful women that have shaped history. We do have an influence on the world and we do shape what our world looks like, so I think that’s important for females to know.”

Historically, many different women paved a path for women to be hired for leadership and administrative positions. Filion highlighted the evolution of the role of women in the workforce.

“I think those movements have made a huge impact on making way for more females to have higher level supervisory positions than they might have had in the past,” Filion said.