Most of us don’t think about the work needed to keep the school running smoothly. Anaxinabila Baran-Gonzalez has been working at Springbrook as its newest secretary. She fills her days by answering phone calls and emails and working with staff to make things at the school run well. On a recent day after school in the Springbrook main office, Baran-Gonzalez told The Blueprint about her background, almost constantly interrupted by students and other administrators asking for her assistance.

Baran-Gonzalez graduated from Montgomery Blair High School and received her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. Upon graduating from Florida State, the now 34-year-old worked as a United Airlines flight attendant for a year and a half. Afterwards, she traveled to Panama to improve her Spanish and decided to stay there to earn her master’s degree in International Business and Human Development. During that time, she worked in two global companies as their Human Resources manager.

Both Adrian Charley and John Weinshel, two Springbrook administrators, taught her as a child, so she didn’t hesitate before taking the job.

“Mr.Weinshel was my fifth-grade teacher and Ms. Charley was my seventh-grade teacher, so working alongside them seemed amazing,” she said.

As secretary, the biracial Baran-Gonzalez makes sure that absent teachers get substitutes and interfaces with students before they talk to their administrator, lending a helping hand to students. Later down the road, Baran-Gonzalez hopes to put her master’s degree in International Business and Human Development to good use by teaching Spanish or English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL).  

Correction: February 13, 2020

The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Ms. Charley was an eighth grade teacher and misspelled Ms. Baran-Gonzalez’s name. All errors have been corrected in the current version of the article.