Bucs Hero: Mary Beth Luxton
Get to know a little more about our Bucs Heroes, a regular feature highlighting the many staff members across campus who make an impact for our school.
Mary Beth Luxton has served the Country Day community in various roles for over 35 years. From athletic trainer to sports information manager to information systems assistant for Upper School and Athletics, MB, as she is more commonly known, has seen it all. MB assists students and staff directly with their technology needs, along with setting up our live streaming systems on campus.
Aside from her full-time position in Information Technology (IT), she also coached field hockey for 18 years before retiring from coaching this fall. You can still hear MB announcing over the public address system for field hockey, and any other sport in need. “Be safe, be kind, and go Bucs,” is her signature phrase as she signs off the mic, a saying that fits perfectly for someone who has always been such a positive influence on Country Day students.
She is the first person to be profiled in this new feature called “Buc Heroes,” designed to highlight the many staff members across campus making an impact for our school.
Get to know a little more about Mary Beth Luxton.
What do you like most about your job?
I like to help people. The positions I have held here have all been about helping others. I transitioned from helping people with injuries to helping people with computer issues. Both of those jobs are pretty much the same and require the same basic skill set. You listen to the problem, ask questions to gather the pertinent information, assess the issue with the tools you have, and come up with a plan of action. It was an easy transition for me.
In what ways do you help build community?
You build community by showing others that you care. I think the little things matter. The example that you set is very important when you work with young people. When I was doing sports information and started public address announcing, I wanted to be sure that we paid attention to all sports.
Name a way in which your job has changed over the years.
The most obvious change is that when I started with IT in 2003, the Upper School had a single computer lab with 20–24 computers. Today, everything we do involves technology, and as the school has grown, so has the need for support of those technologies. In Athletics, I started the BucSite, which was the first website the school had. It represented all the sports we offered and was hand coded. A student, Chris Moore ’98, helped me learn html. I also started the first Twitter page with the encouragement of Natalie Pruett and Lee-Anne Black in the Marketing/Communications Office. Look at where we are now! Tech changes so fast. You have to help folks feel comfortable with it.
How many times have you moved offices?
When I started as an athletic trainer, my office was in the old Harris Gym (where the Hance Fine Arts Center sits today); our offices moved from a closet off the hallway leading back to the boys’ locker room to a storage area off the lobby. Funny story about that: One day I bumped into a little boy heading into PE class. For some reason he was all excited to see me. He said, “I know you!” I replied, “You do?” He said, “You’re the Security Lady who works in the gym.” That open storage area was converted to an office by putting in 2-½ inch walls with glass. It is not a wonder he thought it was a security booth. Then I moved to Bruton Smith Athletic Center. When I transitioned to IT, I was in the former Cannon Library storage room, then a classroom, and a computer lab, then temporarily in Barnhardt Hall while the recent campus construction was underway. And now, I’m in the Upper School IT Suite in Cannon Hall…it’s a great central location for helping students with their tech needs.
The best way to spend a Saturday morning is…?
Coffee and a newspaper—taking the dogs for a walk or a run with my husband.
E-mail Mary Beth!