JoAnne Moreno’s New Position as Administrative Assistant has her missing her classroom and students, but loving the new challenge of helping to run the building.
by Andrew Briss
photo by Manny Perez
Most of you know her as Señora Moreno, respected Spanish teacher here at Thomas Jefferson High School; but now she has moved on to grander and greater things.
JoAnne Moreno now has the position of Administrative Assistant. “I miss being in the classroom and interacting with students; however, being a part of the bigger picture gives me a new, fresh perspective at TJ,” said Moreno.
As Administrative Assistant, Moreno supports Principal Sandra Just, and Assistant Principals Scott Lessard, and Lani Nobels, with whatever help is needed. For example, Moreno now attends all Thomas Jefferson home volleyball games and lends a hand as the athletic supervisor at sporting events. Also, since she is fluent in Spanish, Moreno helps Just by translating conversations for families whose main language is Spanish. If a student is having attendance issues and has to have his/her family contacted and the dominant language in the family is Spanish, Moreno mediates the conversation and handles all the details. “Estoy a sus ordenes para lo que se los ofrezca (I am at your service for what ever you need).”
That’s not all she does, though. Moreno has the duty of handling, distributing and grading all of the major tests at Thomas Jefferson. The ACT’s, Pre-SAT’s, and Benchmarks are all overseen by Moreno and organized for every class and for every student. Moreno said, “Being an organized person helps me in this job because there is a lot of attention to detail that needs to be accounted for.” Moreno also handles any problems with questions on how the tests are scored, and where to find these scores for the teachers and their students. In addition, Moreno creates new and more specialized ways on how students can improve their scores on these major tests.
Moreno also schedules the calendar for the year, and she has started new programs such as a new 8th grade recruiting system to get more freshmen to attend Thomas Jefferson, and compiled a guideline system called the Spartan Shield, which has key points and details on how to make students’ high school careers successful.
Outside of the high school atmosphere, Moreno is a mother of two. Her oldest daughter is a sophomore in college at the University of Virginia, and her younger daughter is a senior at Cherry Creek High School. On the weekends Moreno enjoys spending time with her family while watching football and hockey, preferably the Colorado Avalanche. Moreno is an avid planter and has an extensive green house at her residence. Cooking is also a passion of Moreno’s, and she whips up delicious Mexican, Italian and all-around great dishes for her family and when her family entertains guests.
Moreno was born in Colorado, graduated from Colorado University of Boulder, spent a year in Mexico City and earned her Masters Degree. Growing up, Moreno wanted to be an archaeologist, because the ruins in Mexico astonished her.
Moreno adores traveling and has journeyed to 10 different countries including Spain, France, Austria, Morocco, and Costa Rica.
