When parent-teacher conferences took place in the 1970s, Cheryle Jacob used to painstakingly schedule over 1,000 interviews through the switchboard with three lines, scribbling the names by hand.
The records clerk at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary, who has seen five computer system changes in her career, retired in February after a 43-year career. She not only worked at Churchill for four decades, but she was also a student who graduated in 1972 from the same school. She recalls how the school supported her through personal challenges and says it's the life-long and new friendships she will miss the most.
"I'm very much a people person - I love to talk, going to visit with people and the children," said Jacob in her signature all black attire. "They've been wonderful. This is a very unique school. The kids are so good. There's academics and then there's the ones that aren't the academics but they're also well-behaved and so kind."
The idea of working at Churchill shortly after graduating never crossed her mind. Instead, she wanted to work at Langara College and applied with the Vancouver School Board. It turns out that Churchill was hiring a receptionist and the principal wanted to meet her on the same day. When Jacob arrived at the interview, the principal had all her discipline cards before him from her student days when she and her friends were known as the funny company' - a nickname they earned for always seeming to be having fun.
She describes that when he hired her, he said "'Well, you're here for six months and if it work, it works. If not, you're out of here.' And here we are 43 years later."
As for retirement plans, Jacob hopes to travel to Newfoundland this summer. "Other than that, I'm in town," she says. "I want to do gardening, and I'm so looking forward to spring. And I'm going to do some major, major cleaning at the house," she laughs.
