Athletic Department secretary Carol Schommer to retire

• Carol Schommer

Carol Schommer has worked for four principals - Barb Lundgren, Bob Laney, Beth Lanning and Ed Lucas - since joining the Hudson High School staff in 1994.

Talk about it

The staff and students of Hudson High School will lose another familiar face around its halls when Carol Schommer retires in June.

Schommer is currently secretary in the HHS Athletic Department. Prior to that assignment, she worked in the school’s administrative office, and before that subbed for close to five years as a secretary and aide in every school in the district except Houlton Elementary.

Schommer said she enjoyed her early years with the district, especially being around the very young students. When she was asked to come to the high school in 1994, she admits she was a little leery. When she first came to HHS, she shared a desk with Edna Vredeveld in the administrative office. And it wasn’t long before she felt at home.

Both of Schommer’s sons, Paul and Allan, graduated from HHS, and Paul was a faculty member until recently. While in the school’s main office she has worked for four principals including Barb Lundgren, Bob Laney, Beth Lanning and Ed Lucas. She moved to her current assignment six years ago, working as secretary to former athletic director Larry Osterdahl and now for Stephanie DeVos.

She has seen the high school grow and has gone through bomb threats and lock-downs over the years.

“The office was at the center of all of that. We had to handle all the calls from parents and others as well as scared students through those things. That’s the thing about that job -- you saw kids at their worst and lowest but also at their best.”

Schommer said at first she missed the constant stream of students that came into her old office but has adjusted and enjoys the regular “early morning therapy sessions every Tuesday and Thursday” with other staff members and coaches.

She also has a regular “lunch bunch” she will miss along with the students like the hundreds that have dropped off their graduation photos for her over the years.

Her biggest challenge over the years has been the constant changes in technology.

“I know things change to make them easier but it takes awhile to adjust.”

Schommer said she is looking forward to more time with her husband Bill who is also retiring from the City of Hudson maintenance department.

Along with spending more time with her grandsons, she and Bill will be at their lake home in Frederic and may do some traveling.

“When he retired, I wanted to as well. He can’t have fun without me.”

Schommer will be honored with other district retirees at a recognition dinner later this month.

Tags: high school, education, hudson