Dutchess BOCES administrators and human resources staff welcomed 82 new employees in varied departments during the New Hire Orientation Aug. 21, marking the largest number of new hires in the agency’s history.
“Welcome to the team and welcome to the family, you are part of the Dutchess BOCES family and we take care of our family,” Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Dr. Norah Merritt told the employees. “We expect that you’re going to support each other.”
Merritt noted that the new employees are serving in administration, support staff, teaching and teaching assistant roles and she credited the Resilience Academy, Career & Technical Institute and Salt Point Center principals for assisting with recruiting and hiring. This large cohort guarantees that every building is fully staffed.
“We’ve had large groups before, but this is the largest, which is fantastic,” Merritt said. “We’re very happy to have them on board.”
This year’s orientation was not as overwhelming for new staffers as previous years because many participated in “Fab Fridays” where they received their badges, keys, trainings and other crucial tools before they started their roles.
“They’re armed with all the things that they need,” Merritt said of the employees. “That leaves the efforts on the schools or wherever offices they’re returning to, to do the real detailed work of the position itself.”
Employees were divided into small groups to traverse across campus solving riddles to find the varied departments in an activity called “BOCES Trailblazers.” Once found, they performed fun challenges based on each department, such as matching the tools needed for some of CTI’s trade programs.
“It sort of embodies the service of that department,” Merritt said of the challenges. “The goals are really about learning the services, learning the campus, getting acquainted with one another and forming a united cohort.”
NaQuera (Niqqi) Welcome, an administration building receptionist, enjoyed participating in the activity and getting to know her colleagues. After working as a teaching assistant, Welcome wanted a calmer role and BOCES proved to be a great fit.
“Everyone is so nice here,” Welcome said. “I’ve never experienced an orientation like this, I enjoyed it.”
Michael Maurer has been doing largely landscaping work for F&O this summer and while he never worked in a school setting before, he has enjoyed his BOCES experience so far. He gave two thumbs up to the BOCES Trailblazers activity.
“It was a really good way to get to know the campus and a lot of the departments,” Maurer said of the activity. “It was informative and fun.”
BOCES continues to look for employees for clerical, accounting, teaching assistant and aide roles and they can be found at: https://dcboces.org/jobs.
“This is an absolute wonderful time to join the agency,” Merritt said. “We’re growing and we’re moving. It’s a BOCES renaissance and who doesn’t want to be a part of that.”