A candy jar, a cluster of cushioned chairs, and a smiling face welcomes me as I enter the Upper School office. Photos of Westridge students playing sports and throwing clay on the ceramic wheel line the white walls. I notice colorful, bright flower pots sitting on a counter. Ms. Kali Spicer, baking and cooking enthusiast, returns to Westridge as the new Administrative Assistant to the Upper School.
Some may recognize Ms. Spicer from her years at Westridge from 2016 to 2019 when she worked as the Student Leadership Assistant, but she has taken on a new role as the Administrative Assistant to the Upper School. She loves interacting with a variety of people, calling her job the “Grand Central Station [to help] figure out where everyone needs to go.” In addition, she manages the school calendar and helps with Upper School events, making sure everything is running smoothly.
Ms. Spicer got her bachelor’s degree in anthropology and sociology from the College of Idaho, a liberal arts university. She got her master’s degree in divinity at Fuller Seminary and is currently pursuing her second master’s in marriage and family therapy.
Ms. Spicer explained how she had left a stressful job, which required her a lot of time and energy. In the spring, Ms. Spicer reached out to Westridge to fill out verification forms for her student loans. “And that’s when I got connected back in and they asked me if I was looking for a job.” It was a pleasant surprise, and she decided to take the opportunity. “I wanted to work for an organization that I felt aligned with my mission, vision, and values. I wanted a place that I could give myself and my talents but also be able to close my laptop at the end of the day and focus on my family and my grad program.”
At home, Ms. Spicer has a 20-pound golden doodle named Winston, and in her words, “he’s the joy and light of my life.” While she plays tons of strategy board games with her husband and watches soccer every week, her main hobbies are cooking and baking. She explains how her dad is an artist, but she originally never felt as though she was artistic. Although Ms. Spicer used to feel that way, several years ago she discovered baking after being inspired by The Great British Bake Off. In her words, “cooking and baking has been my artistic outlet.” One of Ms. Spicer’s favorite pastries to bake is bread, and she even has a sourdough starter in her fridge that she named Mar-Dough Robbie. “If I had to pick [a favorite], it would be bread—there’s so many metaphors in it.” Cooking wise, she loves making pasta and focaccia. Ms. Spicer makes sure to capture all of her food creations through pictures. During our interview, she pulls out her phone and begins to scroll through scores of mouth-watering omelets and macarons.
While Ms. Spicer spends her free time finding new recipes to bake and cook, she also is always searching for ways to help better the overall function of the Upper School office. Since Ms. Spicer has had previous experience in operations and communications, she hopes to use that knowledge to help improve those systems in the office. She wants to learn more about the current platforms and build off of them by improving Veracross and the calendar. Ms. Spicer is happy to be back at Westridge, and she looks forward to meeting and getting to know everyone on campus.
