DIXFIELD – In her 28 years with the SAD 21 district, Charlotte Mesko has never been bored.

She’s seen several superintendents and high school principals and assistant principals come and go, the introduction of a wrestling program and other changes.

On Monday, the SAD 21 board presented her with a dinner and a new laptop computer in honor of her retirement on Nov. 30.

“She’s a tremendous loss,” said Superintendent Tom Ward. “She is so conscientious, organized and dedicated. She has had tremendous responsibility and has performed her job exceptionally well.”

After Mesko graduated from Stephens High School in Rumford, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked at several jobs for the Pentagon and for Dow Jones & Co. Until she moved to Dixfield, she had never held the same job for more than two years. She said she had always become bored.

“But I’ve never been bored at SAD 21. It’s a challenge to do my job, to do it differently,” she said.

In her nearly three decades, she has worked for the high school’s principals, then in the Central Office for the superintendent.

“I don’t think people realize what the school board does, or how difficult it is to build a budget. It’s been fun and a challenge, but I’m leaving,” she said with a smile directed at the board.

And although she will miss the students and her co-workers, she’s thrilled to be retired.

She’s been studying Spanish and hopes to travel to Mexico soon. She plans to remodel her home, and to get out and minister more as a Jehovah’s Witness.

“I’m very happy to be retired,” she said.

Ward said Mesko’s retirement fits in well with the reshuffling of office staff as the result of Peru’s merger with SAD 21. He said he expects to downsize the Central Office by one person, and to transition one position into another.