You’ve likely interacted with most of these women, but have you ever wondered what their roles are here at Normal West? Take a moment to get to know our administrative assistants by reading about them below!

Sharri Cheli

What is your role at West?
Administrative Assistant to the Principal – Dr. Codron’s admin assistant

What does your role entail?
I assist Dr. Codron with anything she needs help with. I also coordinate graduation each year.

What’s something you wish people knew about you or your role at West?
I have been employed by Unit 5 for 27 years, 16 of which have been at Normal West.

What is your favorite part of your job?
It is different every single day!

Veronica Kroesch

What is your role at West?
I’m the administrative assistant for our associate principal, Ms. Frangella.

What does your role entail?
I do a lot of tasks for her so that she can focus on more specialized work as an administrator to keep our building running. I think the things that I’m most known for among the staff at West are payroll and substitute coverage for staff absences, but I do a lot more than that; those are just the tasks that have the most firm deadlines and are the most visible.

What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part about my role at West is getting to know literally everyone who works here! Because I do payroll and handle staff absences, as well as issuing keys and welcoming our new staff, I meet every West employee at least once. Substituting is also sometimes a gateway to a career in education; for example, I got to know teachers like Mr. Wynters when he was a substitute before he started teaching science here full-time.

Linda Bach

What is your role at West?
Administrative Assistant – Attendance

What does your role entail?
My role focuses on ensuring accurate daily student attendance. It involves communication with families and staff, tracking absences and tardies, and identifying any attendance concerns sooner rather than later. On a typical day, I: track/verify student absences, tardies, and early dismissals, receive parent notes, phone calls, emails, and other documentation and then process the information, make sure the attendance codes are correct (excused vs. unexcused) according to our district and state guidelines, and communicate throughout the day with students, teachers, administrators, counselors, and families to resolve any discrepancies.

What’s something you wish people knew about you or your role at West?
I would like people to know that attendance is about so much more than just marking students absent or late. Also, I’d like people to know how much communication happens with phone calls, emails, system updates, etc. Attendance patterns can sometimes signal bigger issues – mental health concerns, family struggles, academic problems – and with accurate attendance, we can be more supportive of the student.

What’s your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of my job is connecting with the students and being a friendly presence to them in what can oftentimes be a very busy/hectic school day! 🙂

Lisa L’Hote

What is your role at West?
Admin Assistant in the IMC

What does your role entail?
I have a lot of roles. Anything mail related, signs (both outdoor and tv’s), Announcements, Printer problems, What’s Up Wildcat boards, IMC duties such as overdue notices, library and textbook shelving and processing, inventory, computers and chargers, Student/teacher ID’s, Infinite Campus fees (lost books, ID fees), Bulletin Boards, student supervision, scheduling rooms, oversee our student monitors,

What’s something you wish people knew about you or your role at West?
All five of my kids graduated from West – and my last name is L’Hote (rhymes with boat).

What is your favorite part of your job?
Every single day is different.

Julie Nikolanci

What is your role at West?
Finance and Attendance

What does your role entail?
Manage the Student Activity Accounts (athletics, clubs, honor societies, etc) as well as the Building Budget accounts ( Department funds, Supplies, Fees, etc), Student Fees – registration, Behind the Wheel, and any additional fees that are added. I take care of payment requests, writing checks, deposits or any other aspects of account work. I also assist Mrs. Bach with attendance throughout the day – all day absences as well as making sure attendance is accurate for the alphabet H-Z at the end of the day. This includes communication with teachers and students.

What’s something you wish people knew about you or your role at West?
The main office is a busy place. We are constantly managing students, parents, and teacher needs. I started working at West in August of 2012 as the Attendance administrative assistant and stayed in that role until August of 2023, when I began the Finance position. Both of my girls attended Normal West and graduated in 2015 and 2018. I’ve seen West through the eyes of a parent as well as an employee and can tell you that every person at Normal West cares about their job and their students.

What is your favorite part of your job?
I enjoy getting to know the students, and it is amazing how quickly four years go by. I love seeing graduates as adults – working and starting families. My co-workers and staff keep me coming back. I have formed lasting friendships during my time at West. We support each other in work and our personal lives.

Samantha Rich

What is your role?
Administrative Assistant/Front Desk

What does your role entail?
I check people into the building for appointments and meetings. Answer the phone for incoming calls

What’s something you wish people knew about you or your job?
I wish students would please follow the rules and show their school ID’s when they are coming into the building after school has started at 8:30. It makes my job much easier.

What is your favorite part of the job?
I love talking to the students and getting to know them.

Susan Beecher

What is your role at West?
I am the Registrar

What does your role entail?
I am responsible for all things grade-related. Transcripts, Posting Grades, need your GPA? I can help with that! Need your Driver’s Ed form completed? I can help with that. Need a work permit? I can help with that, too. I am responsible for student records as well. It is my job to keep student records accurate and safe. There are many other things, but that is the highlight of what a Registrar does.

What’s something you wish people knew about you or your role at West?
I feel the Registrar is sort of an unknown job; not many people know about it until they need a record of some sort. Also, I’d like to emphasize that our jobs (the Administrative Assistants) are SO much more than what you see. We are responsible for keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes, from day-to-day tasks, graduation, grades, attendance, finance, subs for teachers, we aren’t front and center, but we are important!!!!

What is your favorite part of your job?
I love talking to students! But I also love data, just any kind of data. Keeping data in spreadsheets, building spreadsheets, building reports, basically anything data-related, so this job is perfect for me!

Rachel Burbridge

What is your role at West?
Administrative Assistant for the Counseling Office

What does your role entail?
My job is to make sure that students are signing in/out of the office when coming for appointments with their counselors, letting the counselors know when and what students are wanting to meet with them about. I am also in charge of Freshmen Orientation Night and Academic Award Night.

What’s something you wish people knew about you or your role at West?
I wish people understood everything my job really involves. There is so much happening behind the scenes that helps the counseling office run smoothly, and most of it goes unseen.

What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of the job is building relationships with the students and having them stop by to talk to me or give me updates on important life events.