Photo courtesy Clinton Public School District

Kathleen Suedel is a familiar face to any student athlete at Clinton High School. In her position as athletics secretary, she controls player-eligibility records, all team databases and athletic-department budgeting.

In August, Suedel won the Clinton Public School District's Dedication of Our Valued Employees Award, which recognizes employees who display excellent customer service.

Suedel has served as the athletics secretary for two years. She has also worked as a substitute teacher in the district since 2005 when her family moved to Mississippi from Richmond, Texas.

Suedel and her husband, Burton Suedel, also have a son, John Suedel, who graduated from Clinton High School and played football for the school. Both parents still cheer on the Arrows at every home football game, even though John has been at Mississippi State University for the past two years.

"We attend as many sporting events as possible," she said.

Suedel says even with her son having graduated, the Clinton community is still home for her and her husband. The school district is a "great academic environment," she says, and although her son never won a football championship for Clinton High School, the academics were strong.

Suedel, who grew up in Ohio, played in the band in high school and remembers performing in halftime shows. She received her master's degree in education from Texas A&M in 1989, and she taught in Ohio and Texas before moving to Mississippi.

Suedel never won the DOVE Award before this, and she said she was grateful and honored that the district chose to recognize her.