She’s Present: Palmetto Welcomes New Attendance Clerk Kristina Mesquita She’s Present:

Three times every school day, at the beginning of class, each teacher follows their legal obligation of accounting for all the students present on an attendance sheet. However, once each teacher takes count of the students in their class, where does this document go?

Following long-time Miami Palmetto Senior High Attendance Clerk Linda Lane’s retirement in February, the school hired MPSH parent and former Attendance Clerk at Ronald W. Reagan Senior High School Kristina Mesquita to take on the task of holding students accountable for their attendance at MPSH.

For Mesquita, the decision to shift from Ronald W. Reagan Senior High to MPSH came as a coincidence of timing and connection to her daughter, Sienna Mesquita’s school.

“It’s kind of funny. Me and Mr. T[ellechea] were talking about her and her job and she was doing attendance at another school at the time. When he heard, he mentioned that [Ms.] Lane was retiring and was like, ‘does she want to work here haha.’ After a few weeks of convincing, she finally went for an interview and they hired her that day,” MPSH junior Sienna said.

The decision to transition from her position at her previous school to MPSH resulted in a calmer, more welcoming work atmosphere for Kristina. However, she encountered a difference in the demand of her routine upon changing schools.

“I come in in the morning. Usually, students are waiting for me to fix their absences. I think it’s been a little bit more hectic transition only because I’m coming in in the middle of the year and there was somebody else here and then now I’m here. But pretty much day-to-day, just finding little ways to make the attendance better, make it more efficient. I try to work smarter, not harder.”

With Kristina working at the desk next to Student Services Secretary Olga Gonzalez, sitting alongside each other allows the coworkers to work and assist each other in any way possible.

“In general, we try to help each other. If there’s something that I can do when [Kristina is] not here and I can answer to MPSH.

“My mom and I are super close. We do absolutely everything together. Her and I love traveling so much. My best friend lives in LA so we go to California a lot together, just us two. Also, I am obsessed with Harry Styles, so we travel a lot to see him in concert, mostly New York. Back in September, we camped out for over 12 hours so we could be barricade for one of his concerts and it was so much fun.

It’s really nice having her there because if I ever have free time during a class, I can always go hang out with her. Also, she always has snacks for me if I’m ever hungry or anything,” Sienna said.

Outside of work, Kristina and her daughter enjoy spending time together, traveling and following Harry Styles around the country.

“My daughter and I are huge Harry Styles fans, so we do that a lot. We did New York, mostly traveled to New York. And we did a turn around, we did Harryween and then I was like, ‘Okay, we’re here already let’s do another concert,’ so we just did that. That’s a big thing, her and I are huge fans. I’m from New York so I love going back there, and we travel to LA a lot because we have friends there,” Kristina said. “[At school] I’m the snack drawer and the lunch lady.” some questions. I cannot change things, but I’ll answer, I will write it down and give her the information… We work together; she knows that counselors can’t see anybody, only during lunch and even the parents and volunteers, when [the kids] have a parent, they have to come see me for the first. So we help each other,” Gonzalez said.

For Sienna, her close relationship with her mom creates a comfortable and familiar atmosphere within the school grounds, bringing a piece of home with her

As Attendance Clerk, mother and Harry Styles fan, Kristina’s introduction to the MPSH community has provided her with opportunities to bond with her daughter and create new connections around the school.

Sara Paredes Feature Editor

s.paredes.thepanther@gmail.com

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