Laguna Honors Its “sweetheart”

There are several things that set our small school apart from most private educational institutions. One of them is the strong community at the core of it all, but when you take a closer look, there are a few even more special things—people—at the heart of our community, and Ms. Mary Jane McCord is one of Laguna’s very special people .

Ms.  McCord secret to winning everyone’s heart might have something to do with her offering a delicious homemade dessert or a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich after a particularly painful final exam.

For over 30 years she has graced our campus and is such a huge part of the Laguna family.

Being a lifer myself, Ms. McCord has watched me grow up. She has known me longer than the vast majority of the teachers I’ve had in high school.

On warmer days, it’s standard to see her walking around with bags of popsicles to offer to students to help them cool off a bit.

She has been known to bring her lovely desserts, the new latest recipe she’s found, for an advisory who may have forgotten to bring snacks that week.

In addition to being so kind and selfless, Ms. McCord is also hilarious and very witty. During finals, she has consoled us with statements like, “I know that test is probably is terrible, but why don’t you get it over with so we can have some snacks.”

Ms. McCord, dubbed “The Queen of the APs” always makes sure we are all well-fed during the crucial and stressful time of final exams and standardized tests.  Often her array of food could put most Thanksgiving meals shame.

She sets out do-it-yourself peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, lemon bars, brownies, strawberries, crackers, pretzels, and several of her own delicious dessert recipes.

On top of it all, she always remembers to pack things for the handful of kids with food allergies, even difficult ones such as wheat intolerance.

A couple of summers ago she even called senior Cameron Platt at home to let her know that she had found delicious gluten-free cookies and that they were on sale at Vons that week.

On March 14, the Laguna community came together to honor and celebrate Ms. McCord and to thank her for all she has done for our School and every person on campus.

Current and former students, faculty, and parents flooded the Upper School campus to take part in the celebration.

A handful of people shared funny and equally moving memories of time spent with the most loved woman on campus.

Additionally, a couple dozen current students—led by English teacher Dr. Ashley Tidey—shared short and personal thank you’s, ranging from “thank you for always feeding us,” “you even called my house to ask if I liked nuts in my brownies,” to sixth grader Aura Carlson’s touching appreciation, “thank you for helping my mom when my chicken died, so that she could help me.”

Ms. McCord’s daughter was able to attend, but many family members were not. For those who couldn’t attend, Director of Technology Ms. Barbara Remick filmed the event on her iPad and streamed live footage to her family members around the country.

The title “substitute teacher” does no justice to who Ms. McCord is, and there certainly could never be a substitute for her.