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Guest column by Mary Jo Dorman

Thank you to the Albert Lea Tribune for providing this opportunity to reach out to the voters. Without a local newspaper, it would be much more challenging to get needed information out.

I love living in our community — we are caring, supportive and want to stay informed on the local issues. During my 35 years in this city, I have been fortunate to work alongside so many outstanding people on many great projects and in organizations to continue to make this a great place to live. Dan and I raised our two sons here, and enjoy watching our grandchildren thrive. Our granddaughters are the sixth generation of our family to call Freeborn County home. I have worked in both banking and teaching, providing me with a great background to be a successful school board member by understanding both the operations and finances.

In my campaign, I have talked a lot about my passion and care for this community. But what does that really mean? How do I demonstrate that to you? So I thought I would share some examples of who I am as a person and my commitment to the work I do.

One of the most rewarding endeavors I have had as a volunteer was being the board chair at The Children’s Center, our community owned childcare center, in the 1990s. I also chaired the capital campaign to pay off the $350,000 balloon payment, leaving the center debt-free. To accomplish this goal, as a board, we worked extremely well together, made our plan and reached out to the community. This involved talking to businesses and individuals to secure the necessary donations. This was intense work, and as a board, we completed this campaign in two months. That’s commitment and teamwork when most of us had full-time jobs and young children at the time.

One of my favorite stories of stepping forward was for a job that I was not really qualified. Ross Williams was the athletic director at the time, and he asked me to be the dance team coach, and he was desperate, as school was starting and he still didn’t have a coach. I said, “Ross, me, dance team coach? I am not qualified for that role!” After two more phone calls from him, I said, “I simply can’t do it, there has to be someone out there who is better!” He said he tried everyone he could and at that point he said, “if I don’t get a coach there won’t be a dance team this year, you don’t want to see that happen, do you?” Not wanting to see the program canceled, I accepted to committing to one year, giving us time to find a better coach, which we did, when classically trained dancer Allison Ciota stepped forward and was a fantastic coach for many years. In addition, I was the color guard director for the Albert Lea High School marching band for five years. I have to say, it was fun being with the students for these activities, and I learned a lot as well!

My last position in the school district was in curriculum and instruction, and I will always be a strong advocate for literacy. Data clearly shows that there is a correlation between literacy skills and the number of books in a home. Homes in poverty, on average, have very few children’s books in their home. So to help remedy this locally, I wrote grants and more grants just looking for any avenues to get funds to support families by getting children’s books in their home. Over the years, I found some national funding as well as local funding, as a district we received many pallets of books to get in the homes of our families. I even sent my husband, our son, Matt, and our foreign exchange student, Magnus, to Oklahoma City with a trailer to pick up books and bring back to Albert Lea. I believe we need to find ways to serve all in this community, and my work has always shown that.

One of my most cherished memories was when I worked with Patty Greibrok, Albert Lea children’s librarian, to collaborate and celebrate community literacy, distributing free books to parents. At one event, a mother, who could speak but not read English, came up to me with tears of joy saying, “This is the first time I will be able to read a children’s book to my child,” as we were able to secure books in Spanish.

I hope by sharing just a few examples of my lifelong work in the community, you understand that when I say I will be committed to the public in serving on the school board, you know who I am as a person. If elected, I will continue to work with passion and be a great listener and a strong representative on the school board. Please reach out to me if you have any questions, comments or concerns. My email is maryjodorman@gmail.com and my phone number is 507-369-6035.

Mary Jo Dorman is running for a seat on the Albert Lea school board.