After working in Fairfax County for 28 years and at AHS for the last seven years, office assistant Barbara Hanger will be getting a well-deserved rest as she begins her retirement with the new year.

Hanger said she began working “as a dining room hostess at Annandale Terrace” and until now has worked as an administrative assistant to “two assistant principals, who varied each year.” She also worked with the International Baccalaureate (IB) coordinator for some time and was usually found in her office in the social studies hall.

Apart from developing a professional reputation as part of the administrative staff, she has also built close and personal relationships with many teachers.

“She’s just outstanding. Top notch in terms of professional ability and qualities,” history teacher Kathlyn Berry said. “[Hanger] is extremely dependable, very responsible, has a great personality and is a wonderful person.”

Although she will be missed by many of her colleagues, she felt retirement was necessary for her at this time. “My husband is retiring at the same time and he wasn’t going to retire until I did,” Hanger said. “When he turned 71, I decided he shouldn’t work anymore.”

Hanger said she was going to miss the people in the social studies department especially because “that’s where [she has] been for the past three years or more.”

“[My favorite moments at AHS were] the days when [Jonathan] York sings to his class and they sing along and I can hear them,” Hanger said.

“She obviously enjoys what she does,” history teacher John Hawes said.

After leaving AHS, Hanger plans “to do some quilting, which I enjoy,” she said. “My husband and I are staying at our beach house on the outer banks of North Carolina in February.” Hanger will, without a doubt, be missed by all who knew her at AHS.