Great coverage of IAAP Maryville TN Chapter's APW
event and honor for member Lisa Stremsterfer.
Administrative assistant honored for contribution
April 20, 2004
by Jennifer Hodson of The Daily Times Staff
``You shine so a lot of other people can shine.''
Television personality Edye Ellis addressed these words Monday to the
administrative assistants present at a luncheon hosted by the Maryville chapter
of the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Ellis, who hosts ``The Good Life'' on HGTV and worked for many years as a news
anchor with WBIR-TV, told the assistants that the organizations and companies
they work for would ``likely fold up'' without them.
The luncheon at the Airport Hilton in Alcoa marked the start of Administrative
Professionals Week and the first local ``Administrative Professional of the
Year'' award.
That award went to Lisa Stremsterfer, an administrative assistant in the city of
Alcoa's Public Works Department.
Stremsterfer began her employment with the city in September 1998 as an
administrative secretary in the Planning and Codes Department. In November 2000,
she transferred to her current department.
``To say she has been an asset to our department since her transfer would be an
understatement,'' Kenny Wiggins, Stremsterfer's boss and director of Alcoa
Public Works, wrote in his nomination letter.
``She immediately established a rapport with all the department employees and
customers and has willingly assisted many employees that had been challenged by
today's computer-driven work environment, working with them on a variety of
tasks including computerization of required periodic reports, encouraging and
assisting with employees' continued education efforts and always being available
to answer and explain any question that may arise,'' Wiggins wrote.
In addition to her traditional job duties, Stremsterfer served on a three-person
team that researched, designed and implemented the city's Christmas lights
program. She also served as the department's United Way coordinator and led her
co-workers to increase their departmental giving from $993 in 2000 to $6,887 in
2004.
She and her husband are involved with the youth ministry at their church and
four years ago began foster-parenting. Their foster work led them to adopt a
son, Brandon, in 2003.
Shortly after the adoption, Stremsterfer was offered another, higher-paying
position with the city. She turned it down to have more time with her son.
``To me, this speaks volumes of her as a person -- declining a job that would
have brought her more financial and professional awards, deciding instead to
invest herself in the life of her son,'' Wiggins wrote.
Stremsterfer serves as treasurer for the Maryville IAAP chapter.
She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from East Tennessee State
University, with minors in marketing and business management. She has completed
over 20 courses through the University of Tennessee Center for Municipal
Training.
A three-member panel chose Stremsterfer for the award after examining all the
nomination forms and letters of recommendation, from which identifying details
had been deleted. Judges looked at continuing education efforts,
responsibilities, training, length of employment and civic and charitable work.
Also Monday, the Maryville IAAP chapter's first $500 scholarship winner was
announced -- Quella Kay Ruble, a sophomore at Pellissippi State Technical
Community College.
Requirements for the scholarship included being a Blount County resident and
studying office systems technology or some other office management-related
field.
Administrative Professionals Week -- formerly known as National Secretaries Week
--began in 1952 as an effort to honor administrative staff for their efforts and
to attract more people to office and administrative careers.
Events for this year's observance revolve around the theme ``Ambassadors of
Excellence.''
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., IAAP sponsors Administrative Professionals
Week. The organization is the world's largest association for administrative
support staff, with over 600 chapters and 40,000 members and affiliates
worldwide.
The Maryville chapter was formed in 1994.
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