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Stewart to retire as WSE secretary
When Doris Hudson was asked to describe her best friend and fellow Winfield Scott Elementary School secretary Karen Stewart, she began to cry. Through the tears, however, Hudson looked over at her longtime work partner and spoke straight from the heart.
"Karen is the friend that reaches for your hand and touches your heart," Hudson said.
Hudson's statement, which caused Stewart's eyes to moisten, was just one of many shared between the two friends during an interview with The Fort Scott Tribune last week. It was an interview that was bittersweet for the longtime colleagues, as it gave the friends time to reflect on their time working together, but also brought home the reality that Stewart, who will retire at the end of this school year, will no longer occupy the desk to the left of Hudson as of early June.
Stewart, 55, said she is opting for early retirement after 15 years at the school so she can focus her time toward a variety of other things, including spending more time with her family. Stewart said she will miss working at Winfield Scott and its "family oriented" atmosphere. Of all the people she will miss, though, Stewart said she will miss her fellow secretary of 12 years the most. In her letter to the USD 234 Board of Education informing the board of her retirement, Stewart expressed her feelings of leaving her post beside Hudson.
"I have also had the privilege of being trained by and working with Doris Hudson, who quickly became not only a co-worker, but my best friend," Stewart said. "My replacement will be very fortunate to have a such a caring and dedicated mentor."
Winfield Scott Principal Dave Elliott said he appreciates all of Stewart's hard work at the school and the she will be missed.
"Karen has done a great job for us," he said, "she has for a long time. We're gonna miss her."
When Stewart joined the Winfield Scott staff 15 years ago, she and Hudson knew each other through brief acquaintances, as Stewart was a parent of student at the school. However, as soon as Stewart was hired as the Special Services secretary, her and Hudson's friendship took off from the very beginning.
"When I first started, I just felt like we had a connection," Stewart said. "It was just like you met someone for the first time, but you've known them all your life. That was the feeling that I got."
Hudson said that despite not knowing Stewart "very well," she suggested her for the Special Services position when it became available.
"Dr. (Rick) Werling had said we need to fill the Special Services secretary position and he asked us if we knew anyone who may be interested," Hudson said. "I did not know Karen very well, just as a parent here, but her name came to my mind. So, I said to Rick, 'Karen Stewart would be good in that position.' Rick's eyes got big and he said, 'Oh, you're right.' There was just something about her that I felt we needed to get her on here."
After three years as the Special Services secretary, Stewart took the open position alongside Hudson as school's second general secretary. For the last 12 years, Stewart and Hudson have shared many things that only best friends can share.
"It's just been really great to have someone to work with that you can say anything to and you know they are going to understand," Hudson said. "I cannot think of anyone that I've ever had dealings with that gives people the feeling as she does. She just makes people happy."
Stewart and Hudson both said that one of their greatest qualities as friends is their similar sense of humor. They said that being able to laugh about almost anything was a part of their days together that they both will miss.
"We see humor in pretty much everything that happens in the office or in the school," Stewart said, "and that's why I think we've survived all these years. You have to find humor in the everyday things and all the funny things the kids come in to say to us and the situations our staff gets in."
Along with her sense of humor, Stewart said she will miss working with someone as honest and caring as Hudson. She said those two qualities are what make Hudson "the best friend a person could ever have."
"It's just her straightforward honesty," she said. "She's a very positive person and that's helped me. I see how she treats people and that makes me want to treat them that way, too. She's very fair, very caring. She's like a sister, but closer."