Retiring from NHS after 42 years
By Bethany Comella

Newark High School is saying 'goodbye' to a beloved employee, Carol Boyce, who retires Tuesday after 42 years.

She began her career at the High School in 1966, returning to work after giving birth to her first child, Jeffrey, in February 1966. She heard there was an opening for a switchboard operator, and applied. She began on August 1 and is able to humorously look back on her first days in what would become a career spanning over 40 years. 'The day I started my job 42 years ago, everyone in the office was on vacation.'

They remained on vacation the entire week, leaving Boyce to teach herself and discover her new job on her own. She became secretary to Warren Neely, after he became the newly-created Assistant Principal, and believes this offered the opportunity to 'learn the ropes along the way.'

When the secretary to the principal retired, she moved up into that position. She has worked under what she estimates to be over thirteen principals, and states that her personal favorite - Gary Grant.

'He was a personal friend, before we were co-workers,' she explained, as the two attended Newark High School together in the early 1960s. She believes she learned the most, however, from Laura Frank, who served as principal during the 1980s. 'She taught me what it was to be a professional. she taught me that if you wanted to be treated as a professional, you had to act as a professional, and you had to look as a professional. At that point in my career ... it changed me.'

Boyce's involvement with Newark High School has extended beyond her job requirements. She served as the football cheerleading advisor for one year, color guard advisor for many years for marching band, under the direction of Mr. Bernstein, and has proctored, 'just about every athletic event that there is.'

She has served as a chaperone for trips, including the band and choirs trip to Disneyworld. Mrs. Boyce was able to experience her own school-related trip when she and daughter Stacia participated in Mr. Contario's 'adults-only' excursion to Europe in the summer of 2006.

Boyce brought a unique quality to the job, in that she was born in Newark and has lived here her entire life. She believes that 'one of the things that will be missing from whomever comes into the position ... will be the history.'

While she's agreed to assist her replacement occasionally throughout the year, it will be the local knowledge that she isn't sure she can simply teach. 'It's hard to impart that to somebody.'

While she has many fond memories of her four decades of service, there are two that particularly stand out to her - the first being, in 1999, when the yearbook was dedicated to her. 'It was such a surprise,' she said. 'It just blew me away, that was wonderful ... To think, I wasn't retiring that year or anything, to just pick me, that was really wonderful.'

Boyce is known for her fondness of yellow roses, and at the recent faculty picnic, she was given a special surprise that she will forever remember. A crown was placed on her head, and one by one, every staff member hugged her and handed her a long-stemmed rose, more than 150 in all.

She admits it's hard to surprise her, since she believes it to be her job to have her finger on the 'pulse of things.'

She stays connected to different areas and departments throughout the school, believing that 'it makes things run more smoothly if I do. Its more than just a secretarial position - it has been for me, anyway.'

With her last official day of July 15 quickly approaching, Boyce is unsure of what the future holds, as her life for 40 years has been dedicated to serving Newark High School, and she feels defined by her position.

She does plan on continuing to spend time with her new granddaughter, Sofia, whom she will watch occasionally during the week. She shared that is a 'voracious reader, that'll probably take up a lot of my time,' but admits it will be hard to leave the school behind. Friends suggested she substitute teach, but feels she needs to first learn to live without the school before she returns to it.

'It's been my life, and it's going to be very hard to walk away from it ... its always been about the teachers and the kids, its not about the money. The teachers have always been my family.'

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