Administrative Assistant for the Activities Office Arlene Kearns was nominated and honored with the award of being the Support Staff of the Year after 16 years of being at FHN: scheduling, paying bills and making sure everything is ready to go for every game or event North has.

“She has been a breath of fresh air coming into the activities office,” Activities Director Mike Janes said. “She does so many things behind the scenes that people would never think that she does. I don’t know we could survive without her.”

The Support Staff of the Year is used to recognize assistants, janitors or any other staff member in the building that is not a teacher. This award is similar to the Teacher of the Year award that has been given out for years which English teacher Shelly Parks received this year, but is used to celebrate the works of the staff members who work behind the scenes to better FHN. This year, there were 75 nomination forms and 15 nominees. From those 15, the top 5 nominees that received the most votes were then made finalists and all teachers voted by the faculty meeting in the beginning of February. Kearns is the second support staffer to receive this award.

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“It’s an honor to be acknowledged by all the teachers and other support staff here in the building,” Kearns said. “I was kind of embarrassed because I had to go up in front of everyone when they announced it.”

This award was brought to FHN after the District Professional Day Committee decided that the staff should recognize support staff members that have a positive outlook on life, who are approachable by students and who students are comfortable working with. Kearns received the award based on the nominations and votes of her fellow employees. Last year was the first time this award was given out to recipient Marilyn Jarvis, Head Principal Andy Downs’ assistant.
“Mrs. Kearns has been at Howell North at a long time now,” Spanish teacher and a member of the District Professional Day Committee Brian Santos said. “She truly is the backbone of the school. [She] knows all the rules and procedures, she helps train other people and she’s a great asset to the activities office. When she was in the main office, she was the number one person to go to if anybody had a question.”