During her forty-six years as a secretary for the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District, Alice Hagen met three generations of students.

Some would just stop by the office for conversation. Some had difficult home lives. She cared about each one. When she worked at the middle school, guidance counselors encouraged her to become a volunteer mentor through the Chippewa Area Mentor Program.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, she mentored two students who each lived with one parent and didn't have contact with the other. "It showed me that not all students have a happy home life like I did," Alice reflects.