EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Carol McCormick, who has held the role of administrative assistant or secretary to the principal for nearly the past quarter-century at Evergreen Park Community High School, has announced that she will be retiring at the end of June. 

Originally hired as the secretary to the principal just prior to the 2000-2001 school year, McCormick has worked in the office with four EPCHS principals over the years: Ron Helms, Dr. Beth Hart, Bill Sanderson and Matt Dugan. 

McCormick has “had the pleasure of working closely with many administrators, teachers and support staff” as well, she said, adding that she will miss the “day-to-day interaction with students, working with our dedicated STamPede (formerly PTSA) parent volunteers, and working with the ladies in the office who have not only been my co-workers, but my friends.”

“The secretaries have always been such a cohesive team and there is nothing we wouldn’t do for each other,” McCormick said. “I will miss that most of all.”  

After graduating from Queen of Peace High School, McCormick attended Fox Business College in Oak Lawn and completed the fast-track secretarial program in June the following year. Her first job was as a legal secretary at a law firm in downtown Chicago. Three years later, she left downtown and took a job in the Pastoral Care Department at Little Company of Mary Hospital so that she could be closer to home after the birth of their first child. 

McCormick worked at Little Company of Mary Hospital for 10 years before taking a job at a small HVAC company for a couple of years before joining EPCHS as secretary to the principal. 

Over the years, McCormick has been heavily involved with the school’s parent volunteers and theater program. She won the Theater Mentor Award in 2012 and received the Distinguished Service Award - Award of Merit from the Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association in 2020. 

McCormick is looking forward to spending more time with her family and is excited to cheer on her grandkids in their many sporting events, academic contests, and band performances. In a couple of years when her husband Dan retires, they plan to relax, travel, and enjoy their unlimited free time.