Quality People

Employees Working Behind the Scenes Create Goodwill 

By Dave Arnold

Anyone who has ever talked with a stranger on the telephone knows how difficult it is to trust an unfamiliar and unfriendly voice. When you do business over the phone with a bank, hospital, or credit card company, the employee’s attitude can make or break the conversation in short order.

It is our good fortune as National Education Association (NEA) members that the organization has hired some of the kindest and most helpful individuals around. I suspect they are well trained as well. This positive attitude at NEA flows downward and upward from state and local Associations.

Good Service

When I was president of my local, the Brownstown Education Support Professional Association in Southern Illinois, I found myself calling my regional office for assistance almost every other day. Each time I called someone greeted me with a friendly voice and helpful attitude. Several insurance companies I know of could learn a few things from Association staff.

Before long, the secretaries of our region’s office knew my voice. As much as I would like to think I’m unique, I was in reality just one of many routine callers that they encountered and befriended.

Some Association secretaries took the trouble to learn a little about local leaders. For example, Violet Evans of the Edwardsville office in Illinois can tell you about my work, my wife and my addiction to coffee and home-grown tomatoes.

She could likely tell you more about me than I know myself. Again, I say that it isn’t because I’m anyone special. It is because she and other staff members take their jobs very serious. Since our Association is known as a teacher’s union, you might think that the staff would cater to only teachers.

Norma’s Example

I’ve never seen or heard of the staff treating an ESP different from a teacher, high-ranking government official or anyone else. In one gesture of appreciation, our state ESP council elected to present Norma Jean Yagow, a secretary from the Effingham regional office, with a plaque commemorating decades of service to our Association and ESP.

This would have been a jubilant occasion, but it came at the same time that Norma learned she was terminally ill with cancer. To worsen matters, Norma’s husband, Stuart, had recently died in a traffic accident. He was a school bus driver, though was not driving his bus at the time of his death. Still, Norma continued with her work.

After these events, at the subsequent ESP conference, the ESP council presented Norma with her well-deserved award. She received a lengthy standing ovation. However, most everyone, including myself, found it difficult to applaud and dry our eyes at the same time.

I attended the event with several friends. We drove 250 miles to get there. After the event, I was asked if I could drive Norma home. This was indeed an honor.

Memorable Road Trip

I didn’t know Norma very well, but she seemed to know almost everything about me from our telephone conversations. As we rode home, she talked about her late husband and how they had traveled through Europe. With great pride, she spoke of her sons.

Our ride was too short. I knew that when we arrived at her house we would likely never see one another again. She thanked me for being her chauffer, gave me a hug, and told me to never give up the good fight. Like I guessed, I never saw her again. She passed away a few months later.

Her funeral was well attended by many NEA and community members. A new conference room in Effingham was dedicated in her memory.

As Norma instructed, I keep on keeping on. I try to play a leadership role within our ESP Association  . . . as I have a promise to keep and miles to go before I sleep. All this, I derive from a dedicated staff member working behind the scenes.

(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.)

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NEA or its affiliates.