SUMNER — Clarice Tucker has been the first line of contact at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School for 32 years.

As school secretary, she’s the first to receive phone calls from parents and bus drivers, the first to chat with youngsters when they need something, the “nurse” when the school nurse isn’t in, and the person virtually everyone in the school goes to if they need anything.

At the end of this school year, she’ll retire, leaving a job and people she loves, and children she adores.

“We’re the go-to people for all kinds of questions,” she said Friday afternoon as her phone continued to ring, and her office partner, Brenda Kimball, secretary to Principal Ryan Wilkins, answered.

As school secretary, she orders supplies and distributes them, helps devise bus routes, directs school visitors to the right place once they’ve signed in, makes the announcements at the beginning and end of each school day, and writes checks and makes deposits for the school, among a multitude of other tasks.

“You have to handle whatever comes up,” she said. “You never know what you’ll be hit with.”

It’s a job she has never tired of and has thoroughly enjoyed.

But now, at age 63 and a new grandmother, she’s ready to begin a new life as caretaker for her 4-month-old grandson.

Not only that, but she’ll leave her native Buckfield to live in Windham, where her daughter, Darcy, and grandson live.

Tucker earned a degree from Farmington State Teachers College, then taught first grade for six years at Greene Elementary School until her daughter was born. When she decided to re-enter a school system, she took a position that called for her to serve as secretary at the Buckfield Elementary School and the Hartford-Sumner Elementary School.

After the Buckfield school closed, the students attended the Hartford-Sumner school.

Tucker has seen thousands of youngsters go through the doors of the school.

She said the number and scope of duties increase every year, particularly with computers and technology. She has seen the former SAD 39 merge with Western Foothills Regional School Unit 10. But the children have always been at the heart of her job.

“Kids are so funny and open and honest. If you’re having a tough day, talking to them makes everything so enjoyable,” she said.

Tucker doesn’t believe the reality of leaving the job she has held for 32 years will hit her for some time. She doesn’t want to be emotional, but she’s not sure how she’ll react on the last day of school.

Besides being the “nanny” for her grandson, she hopes to find more time to read, get into an exercise program, visit family in Aroostook County, and stay connected to other family members in the Buckfield area as well as the many friends she has developed over the years.

“It will be different,” she said. “I really like my job.”

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