CRYSTAL APPLE: Brenda Segelke keeps Peetz School’s finances in check
Has been an invaluable part of the school for 24.5 years
By CALLIE JONES | cjones@journal-advocate.com | Sterling Journal-Advocate
May 1, 2021 at 7:25 a.m.
https://www.journal-advocate.c...
Handling a school district’s finances would be enough to keep anyone busy, but Brenda Segelke does so much more than that.
“Brenda goes above and beyond in her job,” said her Crystal Apple Award nominators Kelly Barrett and Dustin Seger.
As the finance director for Peetz School, Segelke does payroll, balances the checking accounts, does state reports, goes to the bank to make deposits, prepares lunch bills to be sent out, etc. When she’s not busy doing that, she takes on other tasks such as helping the school’s administrative assistant with nurses duties, checking in visitors, running messages to students from parents, answering the phone, and checking on the cameras and doors for security purposes.
“Brenda is caring and passionate and is a great asset to our school district,” Barrett and Seger said.
Segelke has been with the school for 24 ½ years now. She started when her children were youngsters in elementary school and she was looking for a job that would allow her time to spend with them.
“It just worked great for me and my family at that time and I just have continued on,” she said.
Being a school finance director wasn’t something Segelke always saw herself doing. In fact, she started out in the front office handling administrative assistant duties and eventually just kind of “fell into” the finance position.
“I like the fact that it has a lot of variety to it, it’s not the same every day,” she said.
It can be a challenging job at times, especially this year as she’s had to deal with COVID-19 and keeping track of all of the stimulus funds the district has received. But, it’s a rewarding job too, and she loves being part of the school.
“This is where I grew up, this is the school I went to, and I want to continue to see it be a good school,” Segelke said.