Each year, Lambert selects a non-teacher staff member to honor as the staff member of the year. For the 2023-24 school year, that award goes to none other than Lambert’s bookkeeper, Mrs. Barnes. Working at Lambert for nearly five years, Mrs. Barnes works hard to organize Lambert’s finances.
As a bookkeeper, Mrs. Barnes works hard behind the scenes to manage Lambert’s budget and ensure that proper funding goes wherever it needs to for Lambert to function. A typical day for Mrs. Barnes almost always involves helping the school run smoothly.
“I typically spend all day doing purchases and following up about purchases.” Mrs. Barnes commented. “Also collecting money, making bank deposits, entering activities on school pay, balancing our budget, and cutting cheques”
Accounting is a large part of the job, as Mrs. Barnes manages the accounts of every club and extracurricular activity associated with Lambert. When organizations at Lambert organize club dues and store that money in an account, it all goes through Mrs. Barnes. When clubs then want to use that money, it’s Mr. Barnes, yet again, who handles their reimbursement.
“I work with the club sponsors to help the students put activities on school, pay for their clubs, collect money, and approve purchases for their clubs.” Mrs. Barnes explained.
Working as a bookkeeper, she also orders supplies for teachers and approves funding for the day-to-day operations of the school. Whenever the art programs need paint, janitorial staff need paper towels, or teachers need new textbooks, Mrs. Barnes is responsible for it all.
Working behind the scenes of a busy building such as Lambert is no small task, and without the expertise, time and skill of Lambert’s 2024 staff member of the year, our school wouldn’t be the same.
