Staff Appreciation Club

Sarah Herbster, Reporter

When thinking of the faces of faculty at JBS, some favorite teachers may come to mind, but to Julia Wykes (’20) and Lola Fernandez (’20), the unknown faces at Burroughs deserve the same amount of gratitude and attention. With the two juniors’ help, the list of Burroughs clubs and activities has grown to encompass an important aspect of our community.

“Lola and I created the Staff Appreciation Club because we felt like Burroughs students don’t truly know all the members of our community,” said Wykes.

Along with approximately one hundred teachers, many other staff members – such as the grounds crew, custodians, and Sage Dining staff – form the backbone of John Burroughs, making sure our school functions and run smoothly day in and day out.

Wykes continued: “We pass these people every single day in the hallway, and the vast majority of us don’t even know their names. We want those who are more or less ‘behind the scenes’ to feel like they are part of the Burroughs family.”

Both Fernandez and Wykes are excited to show appreciation to these people and get to know them on a more personal level. Like the Parents Council shows appreciation to faculty members by taking turns grade by grade to bring in food as a token of appreciation, the Staff Appreciation Project has similar plans for the coming years.

“We have a ton of ideas already, like an assembly presentation featuring staff members, or an Instagram page with fun facts about individuals,” Wykes revealed. “We definitely need everyone’s ideas and input. Our first meeting is going to be a lot of brainstorming, discussing how we can make this happen.”

Wykes added: “We want to enable students to show more appreciation for those who keep our school running and are such an integral part of our community.”