Mouth of the River

Finding the right person to fill the Attendance Secretary position at Oyster River High School (ORHS) was a long process, but now that In-Ja Diamond has taken on the position, it’s clear that she’s exactly what ORHS needed. 

Diamond is replacing Colleen Fleming, who retired at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. Diamond’s joyful and outgoing personality is a large part of what makes her such an amazing fit for the job, because that energy permeates into both the way she interacts with her coworkers and into the way she interacts with students or anyone who comes through the front office. Combined with her love for working with high school students and the positive mindset that’s needed to take on the ever-changing job of being an Attendance Secretary, she’s quickly becoming a cherished member of the ORHS community. 

Diamond has been working in education for the majority of her career, after having attended Keene State College for elementary education. She’s worked at multiple elementary schools and high schools, which ORHS Principal Rebecca Noe says really came through in her interview for the position. Her familiarity with how schools function was a big positive. Diamond said, “I’m really happy to be back at a high school…I love getting to know the kids.”  

She had been hearing about the community from her husband, ORHS social studies teacher Eden Suoth, for years prior to her landing her current role. She said, “I’d heard many good things from him, and I thought [ORHS] sounded like an awesome community.” It was through Suoth that she first heard about the job opening. He knew she was looking for a job and when he saw the secretary position was open, he immediately thought of her because of her outgoing personality. He said, “I think she’s the good fit for all of the wonderful and kind people in the front office who do so much for us.”  

Diamond says, “I always want people to come in [to ORHS] having a good start to their day. You never know where people are coming from, so I try to be warm and welcoming when people come in.” Caitlyn Plourde (‘26), comes in from CTE every morning and has to sign in in the front office. She says, “she’s just really nice. She’s a friendly face.” 

Her job includes keeping track of attendance, which means answering phone calls, emails and a variety of question from students and their guardians, and making sure that the people in the building are meant to be there, which means handling the front door and students signing in and out of the school. And sometimes, all of those things are happening at once. Diamond says, “it’s been a big learning curve and a bit of a whirlwind because I’m still getting to know everybody and getting to know the school… There’s a ton I don’t know but everyone’s telling me to ask questions so I will!”  

The other office staff are helping her learn the ropes of the school and her job. Amy Fleming, the Substitute Coordinator at ORHS says, “she’s such a great people person, communicating well and always seeing the positive in everything. [The secretary] position can definitely be difficult but having that mindset has been amazing.”  

One interest of Diamond’s that she is quickly becoming known for is her love of cats. Fleming found Diamonds’ love of cats through showing her a picture of her friend’s two new kittens. Fleming said, “she was just so enamored.” Along with her own two cats, Bumi and Luna, her interests include painting and drawing, music, and getting outside with Suoth.  

Diamond is being welcomed into the community with open-arms as students and faculty alike take the time to get to know her as a person. She says, “everyone here is warm and welcoming. People are constantly coming down and introducing themselves. It’s just a really nice community.” 

-Sadie Goldberg