Kerri Boutin in the backyard of her Warrenton home.

SEASIDE — Kerri Boutin had quite the journey to the North Coast.

The bookkeeper and athletic secretary at Seaside High School, who grew up in Louisiana and California, had a choice when her husband, Jeremy, retired in Florida after a career in the U.S. Marine Corps.

The couple could move back to California, where her family lived, or come to Astoria, where her husband was born and raised.

They chose the Astoria route.

“We still had one daughter in high school, so she ended up graduating from Astoria High School in 2020, during the COVID year,” Boutin said.

Looking through job advertisements in the local newspapers one day, she found the bookkeeping role at the high school.

“I had worked in a bank as a mortgage loan officer, but had zero experience working in a school,” she said. “I love my job because I always get to see the kids in a positive light and see how much these kids actually care about the world they live in.

“Ninety-eight percent of them are really good kids and I enjoy seeing them grow from awkward sixth graders into confident 18-year-olds ready to take on the world.”

As bookkeeper, Boutin is the one who handles the money that school clubs earn from fundraisers and makes sure the hotel rooms are paid for when the sports teams travel. She organized the trip, for example, when the boys basketball team traveled to play in Hawaii this winter.

As athletic secretary, she works directly with athletic director Aaron Tanabe.

“I have learned so much into what makes a school run,” Boutin said. “It’s crazy how much everyone’s work comes together to make the school run. We think of the teachers, but the teachers can’t do their job without the custodians, the secretaries in the front, the nurse, the school lunch ladies.

“Everybody is needed, so it’s been fascinating to watch how everyone comes together to make it work since each day presents different challenges.”

One of the tasks Boutin relished was helping Neil Branson, Seaside’s longtime cross-country head coach, plan the Three-Course Challenge, the annual cross-country meet that attracts runners from across the region and serves as the biggest fundraiser for Seaside athletics.

Jeremy Boutin is the cross-country coach at Astoria High School. Her eldest son ran at Seattle Pacific University after a successful high school career in Florida.

“Neil has been doing it for 32 years but retired, so now it’s just me. The meet happens the third weekend of September every year,” she said. “Most of the local teams like Warrenton and Astoria go and help us put on the meet.”

Boutin and her husband occupy opposite ends of the Clatsop Clash rivalry, so there is some competition when the Seagulls and Fishermen face off.

“We have a house in Warrenton, so we kind of live in the middle,” she said. “I cheer for all the local teams, though when Astoria and Seaside play, I hope Seaside does better.”