Over the next several weeks, Lapeer Community Schools will pay tribute to many of the Unsung Heroes of the Pandemic. These are the employees who have been singled out by their colleagues for going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure we could keep our schools open for face-to-face instruction. Each Unsung Hero will receive a gift certificate courtesy of our friends at Meijer in Lapeer.

You could forgive Jeanette Rytlewski for not fully understanding what she got herself into last fall. She was starting off a new gig at the Lapeer Virtual Partnership at Cramton after many years serving as the head secretary at Mayfield Elementary.

It was a big move and, unfortunately, there was no time for easing into the new job.

Jeanette’s arrival just happened to coincide with the biggest expansion of Lapeer Virtual Partnership since its inception back in 2014. Due to the Pandemic, interest in the program went from strong, to quite strong, to … let’s just say bonkers.

“We had triple or more the number of student enrollments,” one colleague said. “We had students transferring in for almost a month.”

Another colleague said she consistently worked through her lunch break in order to stay in front of the wave of new enrollments.

“Jeanette has gone above and beyond to keep LVP running smoothly,” her colleague said. “It would have been overwhelming even for an experienced secretary who had done virtual for many years. She handled it like a trooper. She was always kind and willing to do what had to be done.”

The stacks of paperwork that were piled high in the fall returned in earnest in the winter, as many students chose to return to face-to-face instruction. Jeanette was back in the saddle, and once again proved to be up to the task.

“We didn’t know how desperately we needed Jeanette until she came here and now I don’t know how we ever survived before her,” another colleague said. “She is the hub of our building communication between staff, students and the District. We are a better program every day that Jeanette is here.”

On behalf of Lapeer Community Schools, we thank Jeanette Rytlewski for the hard work and dedication that has helped us overcome the challenges of the Pandemic.