Familiar faces are common at Prep, but out of all of them Mrs. Teresa Fields stands out as the most recognizable. Across her 25 years at Prep, she has consistently demonstrated her care for students and passion for her job.
After graduating from Holy Names Academy in 1978, Fields attended the University of Oregon and Seattle University. She then lived on the East Coast for 10 years while working as a banker, before moving back to Seattle and marrying a Prep alum.
After a short stint working at O’Dea High School, Fields came to Prep in 1998. Since then, she says, she’s had jobs in “every [building] and office.”
She began her time at Prep working in the principal’s office, the role Mrs. Ovenell occupies now. After 12 years in that position, she created the first Human Resources Department at Seattle Prep. She worked on the business side for several years until 2013 when she moved to the attendance office, the role for which she is best known for today.
Fields said that during her time at Prep she has transformed quite a bit. “Prep is a really important part of my life,” she said. “I would call it my faith community. I am a lifetime Catholic, and this is where I celebrate the sacraments.”
She makes it clear that her passion for her work comes from serving students and their families. “Why I love working here is the students, first and foremost.”
She also noted, “I definitely serve the families just as much as the kids. Interacting with [the] parents is a great joy of mine.”
Fields explained that during her 27 years of working at Prep the most important thing she’s learned is “how to dial into a student and help them.”
“I’ve learned how to help a student take the rocks out of their backpack,” she said. “Five times a week a student will come in looking frantic and say, ‘Mrs. Fields, I’ve lost my phone!’ Four out of five times it’s in their backpack”
While most students are constantly anxious and rushing, Fields maintains a calm and steady presence on campus. “You don’t have to be so stressed all the time,” she said. “Yes, you need to be on time [to class], but the bigger lesson here is empowering [students]. You need to be more confident.”
In her free time, Fields enjoys quiet hobbies such as cooking, gardening, reading, and spending time with her family, which consists of her husband, her two sons, and her dog. She said that when she’s not at school, she plays a very different role than what people know her for.
“When I step in the door in the morning, I fit into a role and my role is Mrs. Fields, the attendance director. But when I leave here, I’m Teresa. I’m very much an introvert. I can do this job, but then I have to go home and be alone for a while.”
Fields has come to embrace the friendly face that people know her as. “People think of me as that person, and so that’s who I am.”
