Janie Miles, secretary at Winfield Elementary School, has been named Putnam County Schools’ Service Employee of the Year for 2007-08. She was chosen from among six service employees who were selected by their peers as outstanding employees.

Miles has been a Putnam County Schools employee since 1977, when she was hired as a part-time to school secretary. At that time, her duties were filing, answering the phones, greeting students and parents, and assisting teachers. In the intervening years, she has added numerous other duties and learned to use technology in her job. She has also served as hot lunch secretary and a part-time counselor’s secretary at Winfield High School. Aside from a short stint at the central office, Miles has spent her working life at Winfield Elementary School.

Miles believes her greatest contribution to Putnam County Schools is staying in the same school community, where she has watched the families and children grow. “I have come to love the children, parents, grandchildren and grandparents of so many,” she says, “I think and I hope that the Winfield community has grown to trust me and know that I will be here for the children whenever they need someone.”

Ever modest about her accomplishments, Miles gives credit to others: “I honestly feel like my co-workers and the children have contributed more to me than I have to them. They deserve this award,” she says.