Reporter's Notebook: Family fond of workplace

SANDUSKY — Thursday marked Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. And many employed at Erie County Job and Family Services took part in the day with their children tagging along for a shift, getting a feel for what their moms and dads do. A special situation, however, played out in one office corner. Amber Jenkins, the agency's community services deputy director, brought in her daughter, Alexis Fortner, a sixth-grader at Woodlands Intermediate in Huron. Jenkins' job involves ensuring locals in need receive the necessary benefits, from food to health care, they're entitled to. Though, about 25 years prior, Jenkins found herself exactly in her daughter's shoes. Back around 1998 or 1999 — for a similar school-based shadowing opportunity — Jenkins, then an Edison Elementary student, went to see her aunt, Lee Hippely. Employed at the agency for 27 years, Hippely today works as a supervisor in the child support department. "I wanted to see what my aunt did," said Jenkins, who began working for the agency in 2014. "Even then, I knew I wanted to come work here: During the assignment. I had to fill out a survey, and a question asked, 'Do you see yourself working here in the future?' And I said, 'Yes.'" It's really a fun environment to work in. And here I am." Hippely, who started with the agency in 1995 as a file clerk, appreciates she has someone near and dear working alongside her. "I like that someone knows the challenges that we face here at the agency, and it's real easy to talk to one another about those problems," Hippely said of the work relationship she has with Jenkins. Both Hippely and Jenkins encourage Alexis to find her own career path, but they're more than OK if she follows a similar one.