Annual Fund Volunteer Spotlight:
Kathy Jacobs
Kathleen Jacobs came to Horace Mann School after being employed in the reinsurance business for 17 years. For the past 18 years, Kathy has been the Office Manager for the Department of Facilities Management. She helps manage the constant flow of daily work orders and event set-up requests, coordinates the schedules of our maintenance crew of 16 workers, assists the Security Department with office duties, monitors utility billing and usage, and orders equipment and supplies for the school. Kathy credits an increased efficiency in her job to software upgrades, document scanning and converting to an online work order request and tracking system.
Over time, Kathy has seen the school adopt sustainability standards, lessening its carbon footprint in becoming more “green.” She has also seen the school’s physical footprint change with the renovation of Tillinghast Hall, and the building of Mullady, Rose, and Fisher Halls. “It was exciting to be a part of a large construction project and see the buildings go up,” she remembers. In more recent years she has enjoyed the detailed work of helping Gordon Jensen and John Yeager (current and former Directors of Facilities Management) examine the school’s physical plant long-term plans and needs. Kathy also likes the more unusual requests for facilities information, such as a recent inquiry from students and faculty about the amount of electricity HM uses on the Lower, Middle, and Upper Division campuses each day. The question (and answer: approximately $5,400 a day) was included as an HM trivia question in a recent Upper Division assembly about socio-economic awareness and diversity.
Among the highlights of her years at HM, Kathy counts great colleagues, friends, the ‘nicest’ students and being happy being busy. In addition to her role in the Facilities Department, Kathy has also been a member of the Faculty, Staff, and Administration Annual Fund Committee for the past five years. When asked why she loyally gives to HM every year and serves as a volunteer, she comments, “I love HM. The school has given me a lot including a career. It’s important to me to contribute and feels good to be able to give something back.”
In addition to the NY Yankees, old movies and music, Kathy and her husband, Rick, love to take trips and hit the road in their RV. They’ve been up and down the East Coast and enjoy traveling around the state of Maine. Kathy’s favorite trip has been to Maryland’s Assateague Island National Seashore area where wild ponies run free. She’s planning the next trip, “we want to head out West next.”
Thank you, Kathy, for your loyal support of the Annual Fund, dedication to our school, and help in keeping HM’s facilities well maintained and operating flawlessly!
(Article appeared in the spring 2015 Donor Newsletter)