Williston will not be the same without Ms. Motyka.
Each day, students are greeted with a radiant smile and a warm greeting as they enter the Schoolhouse doors. Next year, the “whole structure of the school” will change, as junior Lateef Aiyeyemi says, when Jenna Motyka moves with her husband to North Carolina for his new job after dedicating 17 years to making Williston a home.
Motyka started at Williston in 2009 as a Library Assistant, and now she is the Coordinator of Student Services for the Dean of Students’ Office. In her job at Williston, Motyka organizes student travel forms, schedules, and, arguably most importantly, says hello to every student who walks past her desk by their first and last names.
When Motyka took the job, she didn’t truly understand what her role on campus would entail and “sort of made it what [she] wanted it to be.”
“I love the students so much,” Motyka said. “Right from the get-go, I wanted to know who the students were. I didn’t want people to just be a face that I saw. “My goal for my first year was to learn every single kid’s name. And then after the first year, it’s easy. I just have to learn the new kids!”
She is going to miss Williston, but above all, she will miss the students and seeing every individual’s Williston journey.
“I’m gonna miss the kids the most. I’m gonna miss you guys in a way that I don’t think you could understand. When I say I think of myself as a school mom, I mean it,” Motyka told The Willistonian. “It’s wonderful watching students go from being really nervous freshmen to really confident seniors, and I get to see that happen every cycle,” she said.
Motyka’s most memorable Williston experience was at an assembly in 2017, which announced that the Log yearbook was dedicated to her.
“I was totally shocked. I kind of know what’s going on around here, so I have no idea how they kept a secret from me,” she said.
Motyka was in the back of the chapel, making sure students could get to their classes on time as she usually does, when she realized the yearbook had been dedicated to her.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, the poor kids, they want to do the yearbook, and we’re going to run out of time,'” Motyka remembers. “And then, out of the corner of my eye, I could see somebody run upstairs, and I thought, ‘those look like Thomas’ shoes, my own kid.’ And then when they announced that it was me, they had gone over to get them from the middle school so they could be there.”
Maya Mallett, a three-year junior from Alexandria, VA, describes Ms. Motyka’s role on campus as “essential.”
“I think that Ms. Motyka is a person on campus who the entire school counts on in big and small ways,” Maya said. “She does a lot of work behind the scenes that people don’t always see. With that, she’s also the first face that a lot of people see when they come in in the morning. She’s made an effort to know everybody’s names and where they’re from,” she commented.
Maya recalls the first time she met Motyka and her signature friendly welcome, noting that “it won’t be as homey in the Schoolhouse” without her.
“I remember my freshman year, I walked in, and she knew who I was,” Maya said. “She knew my parents’ names and where I was from. I think that they’re going to need to hire two people to fit Ms. Motyka’s role. I think it will be very difficult to replace her. She’s irreplaceable,” she said.
Jayme Cerasuolo, a two-year junior from Hampden, Mass, imagines a “friendly face” and a mother-like figure when she thinks of Motyka, remembering a time when she felt cared for.
“I had to leave school because I got very sick in the fall,” Jayme said, “and I was worried about my REACH requests and missing class. But Ms. Motyka called my mom without my mom even having to call her. And she just said, ‘Don’t even worry about it.’ And cared more about how I was doing instead of the REACH requests.”
Alyssa Matricciani, a four-year senior from Greenville, S.C., feels like a part of Schoolhouse is missing without Motyka’s familiar presence.
“Ms. Motyka has such an impactful role on campus, and it’s very evident on days when she’s gone and how much the whole Schoolhouse floor kind of feels lulled down and the attitude is different because you don’t have someone smiling at you,” she reflected.
Alyssa notes that nothing would function as it should without Motyka’s dedicated hard work and masterful organization.
“The school would not get kids to the airport on time with their passports without her, which is so important for boarders. And her role is just so integrated into every single aspect of our education and our Williston experience,” she said.
Motyka will leave Williston with big shoes to fill and an irreplaceable warmth.
“There is going to be a hole,” Alyssa said. “I know whoever takes her place is going to do the same things as her and have the exact same role. But there will be a hole missing because of the impact she’s had on so many kids. Even if that next person still smiles at every student, it’s not like the ‘Ms. Motyka smile.”
