Another department member was very influential and generous. Cindy Hope was a character and allowed me to do my first traditional business class with Management and Entrepreneurship. She ran the PACE class which allowed students to get credit for working. It wasn’t just a blow-off where you just had to turn in pay stubs. She met with the students regularly and required activities like a resume and cover letters. She was so dedicated to this class and giving students an opportunity that they may not otherwise get that she would have regular meetings with the student and their supervisor on-site. It was this connection to the community that also gave rise to knowing many companies and being able to help secure employment for some kids. The couple of stories that I will share are not my own because they happened before I got to Rangeview but everyone swears that they are true. One day during school Cindy’s contacts were hurting and she decided to put in eye drops. A little while later Ingrid came back into the office and Cindy had her head in her hands and tears streaming down her face. Ingrid asked if everything was okay and Cindy replied yes but that her bottle of Binaca look just like her eye drops. Some of you won’t get this so take a minute and go look up Binaca. Another story about keys. Cindy was famous for putting everything in her purse but never being able to find her keys. (This part I can attest to firsthand) Rob had lost his keys in the office and couldn’t find them. He had a set of athletic keys so they fit the outside doors. He kept checking and asking and nobody had seen them. Rob was afraid to tell anyone because he didn’t want the embarrassment of losing his keys. This went on for a couple of weeks with no resolution. One afternoon Cindy was looking for something in her purse and laid everything out on the desk. She picked up a strange set of keys and casually said that she had never seen those keys before. Apparently, she hadn’t seen the keys before because they were in Rob’s pocket. So with one dump of the purse a couple of weeks later Rob had his keys back. Working with Cindy was always an adventure but a very fun one and she had a heart of gold. I have one more person that was in my department and I will get to Tom next week.
