A secretary sits at a desk, busily answering phone calls, while students pile in with questions about why their lock for the locker is not working, all while another staff member busily calls a St. Edward alum. St. Edward introduces two new faces in the office this school year: Mrs. Roesslein, the school’s receptionist and registrar, and Mrs. Cottone, the school’s director of advancement and development.

As the school’s registrar and receptionist, Mrs. Roesslein provides transcripts for students and keeps track of student attendance. If someone is not present at school, she will call their parents to understand why they are missing class. Her favorite excuse from a parent for their student missing school is, “They don’t want to come to school today”. Before working at St. Edward, Mrs. Roesslein worked for public schools for 25 years. She was the administrative assistant for an elementary school, where she “did everything”. She worked for the school, interacted with the parent-teacher group, and helped with landscaping. Outside of school, Mrs. Roesslein enjoys taking care of her grandchildren and volunteering at her church. Being a strong member of her church, she says she lives her life by “really [trying] to treat each person as a child of God”. When asked what her second favorite movie is, Mrs. Roesslein responded with Where the Crawdads Sing.

Mrs. Cottone is taking on a new role in the office as the school’s director of advancement and development. In this role, Mrs. Cottone is responsible for “building and strengthening relationships and reconnecting with the alumni”. She builds these relationships in various ways, primarily through phone calls, letters, campaigns, events, and simply finding the best path to connecting with donors. Mrs. Cottone has been familiar with St. Edward for a long time and has been a parishioner at St. Mary’s Parish in Elgin for 30 years. Before working at St. Edward, Mrs. Cottone owned a consultation business, worked with non-profits, and helped build development teams. Outside of school, Mrs. Cottone says, “I like lots of things”. She loves being with her family, traveling, hiking, baking, and reading a good book. Her second favorite movie is the first Top Gun, with Top Gun: Maverick being her favorite movie. Mrs. Cottone says that she lives by the motto, “faith, family, and love”, and has these words on the wall in her office.

If you see Mrs. Roesslein or Mrs. Cottone walking in the hallway, make sure to say hello to welcome them to the school!