By Brittany Butler
Here at Branford High School there’s a new attendance officer. At some point during the four years attending this school, everybody will interact with her, whether its through the phone or just stepping into her office to get a pass. Who really is the woman that sits behind the desk and takes everybody’s phone calls? What is the job really like? Everybody knows her as the attendance officer, but who is she? She’s from Derby, CT and her name is Cheryl Alling. Her first day at Branford High was October 8, 2012 and ever since then she has been behind the scenes keeping track of the attendance for the school’s 1,100 students. Alling likes her new job, but it’s a very busy day going on in that attendance office. She has to make sure she gets every single call and marks each student absent when they are. The phone rings all day long while at the same time students are coming in and out of her office for passes. She has a lot on her plate but she gets her job done and does it well. Alling thinks everyone here at the school is great, staff and students. “I enjoy everybody here at the school and the staff members are all great.” She likes the school environment a lot and is very comfortable being a new employee at Branford High School. “I find the school to be a very warm, welcoming atmosphere.” Although Alling has never worked in a school environment, she has had a few opportunities to work with kids in the past. “I really enjoy working with kids so that may be part of the reason I like my new job so much.” Alling had the opportunity to help kids at schools by being a chaperone in classrooms. Along with being a chaperone, she was also once a Brownie troop leader. She enjoys kids, and has two of her own. Alling has an important job here at Branford High School and everybody should know a little bit about her rather than knowing her as just the attendance officer.