After four years Mrs. Joey Rickards is still handling the attendance job with a positive attitude–and despite all the recent changes. 

Rickards went to St. Joseph Academy in Green Bay until she moved to Charleston, South Carolina, in her junior year of high school. 

“I was a bit mischievous in my high school days, believe it or not. . . I like to think I was training myself for this job,” said Rickards.

She met her husband while playing soccer in Charleston and now has three children attending Notre Dame. 

Her job during the normal year includes a variety of responsibilities and issues.

Her duties include making sure students are where they need to be, tracking the number of absences and tardies per student, making sure medical forms are up to date, distributing and logging medications for students who need it, tracking which students are absent from sports or clubs and even organizing the back-to-school book pick-up days. 

“The students at NDA truly are the best! Every year there is something new to look forward to, and this year is no exception,” said Rickards. “Between adding Swipe and the Magnus Daily Covid Assessment, COVID has brought new challenges and some big changes in the way attendance is done.”

Attendance is most difficult, she said, when students are on the hybrid schedule. 

“We have to track two groups of students (blue & green) in two different locations (home and in class), plus we have to know who is expected to be in the building and who is not, who is sick and who is in quarantine.” 

Who knows what the three-part schedule will mean for the attendance keeping in January!

Along with all of this work that has to be done, Rickards is also a Sting Cancer adviser. 

“Mrs. Cowans and I are working hard to get more students involved in Sting Cancer, and trying to find new ways to reach out to our community. We will continue to make care packages for cancer patients, and we REALLY hope we will be back in March for ‘No Shave March.’ It’s our biggest fundraiser and a favorite for the guys,” she said.