Just past the cherry-red front doors of Brainerd High School, Tracy Walsh's desk seems marooned in the wide hallway. The first class of the day just began and the tide of students has receded to nearby classrooms. But Walsh is barely still for a moment.
"Good morning, Brainerd High School, how may I direct your call?" Walsh answers the phone.
"Welcome to Brainerd High School, how can I help you?" Walsh buzzes people through the door.
A U-shaped office desk adorned with potted plants may be unexpected amid the cinderblock walls and linoleum floors of a high school entrance. The placard facing the door reads: "Welcome Office."
It's about security. It's about smoothing the logistics of visits. And mostly, Walsh says, her welcome desk is about caring.
"She's the first person you see. She's Brainerd," Assistant Principal Jaqueline Lane Cothran said.
Walsh's icy blue eye shadow perfectly matches her top and skirt and she takes notes with a pen with fake flowers attached to the top.
"My main responsibility at the desk is just to be the happy one," Walsh said. "The one to greet them, to make them know that we want to help with whatever they need."
So visitors start with a smile, whether they are at Brainerd to visit a class or meet with a teacher or to follow up on a concern. And they start with a name tag, which Walsh peels from its backing before handing it over to encourage people to actually wear it.
"There's little tricks to the trade but you only learn them through experience," Walsh said.
This is her third year working out in the hallway. Walsh said she gets good feedback on the venture from parents and former students.
And Cothran doesn't mind trekking to the school entrance to talk to her receptionist. She says it gets her out of the office and gives her a chance to greet parents every time she comes to check on her calendar or a task she's given Walsh.
Today that involves collecting field-trip forms and courtesy calls to parents to let them know their children will be spending time in in-school suspension.
"I'm a good guy and a bad guy," Walsh said of her dual responsibilities.
When a parent has specific questions as to why their child is being disciplined, Walsh promises to email the teacher for a full report and to call back with more information.
Walsh is a certified teacher, and Cochran says that background helps her mediate these situations.
"The best part of my day is when I can serve someone else," Walsh said. "That's what's rewarding."
Walsh loves working in a school system. She loves this administration. She loves these students. She loves watching Brainerd grow and improve.
"I love my job," Walsh says.
"She says that every day," Cochran says, smiling at her.
Moment is a weekly column by the Times Free Press photo staff that explores the seldom-told stories of our region.