Dedicated to students with special needs

Dauer retires as paraprofessional with District 88

By KREMENA SPENGLER Journal Staff Writer
NEW ULM — During much of her career, Mary Dauer has worked with seventh- and eighth-grade students who have special needs.

She has especially enjoyed this age group.

“At that level,” Dauer says, the students are “willing to learn” and relatively “easy to reason with.”

Dauer, a long-term paraprofessional with District 88 who is retiring at the end of this school year, has found much satisfaction in helping the kids learn; as she puts it, in “helping make someone’s life better.”

Dauer grew up on a farm; attended a Catholic grade school in Searles; and graduated from New Ulm High School.

She worked for State Bond and Mortgage Company; then followed her husband to Texas, where his job with the Air Force took them. Returning to New Ulm, she stayed at home to raise their three children.

When the kids were old enough to go to school, Dauer sought a job in the field of education, with the intention of keeping the same hours as them.

At first, she worked at the Jefferson Elementary School cafeteria; but, she “kept her eyes and ears open,” and when a job opened for a special education paraprofessional at that school, she applied for it and was hired.

Two years later, she moved on to a comparable job at the Junior High School. She has worked with seventh- and eighth-graders since.

You need the right kind of attitude for the job, Dauer says. A sense of humor and a willingness to get along with people, helps.

Dauer’s longtime principal, Steve Weber, believes Dauer herself has exactly the attitude it takes.

“Mary has dedicated 16 years to assisting students with special needs...,” Weber wrote, commenting on her retirement. “She consistently completed her responsibilities with genuine care, concern and patience...”

Weber fondly remembers his humorous exchanges with Dauer.

“Since I knew that Mary wandered the halls on a regular basis, our standing joke was for us to question the motives of the other and our walk-abouts, and to exchange the appropriate barbs. Much to the delight of both of us!...”

Dauer admits that the idea of retirement is bitter sweet.

“There’re a lot of things I am going to miss,” she says. “The interaction with the teachers, the kind of atmosphere that exists in a school...”

She adds at another point that she miss “the students, the teachers, the great friends and the visiting...”

However, she adds, “the time is right to retire, and move onto to something else.”

She is coordinating retirement with her husband, a New Ulm Public Utilities employee who is also retiring this summer.

The two are planning to spend more time with kids and grandkids, all of whom will soon be living in Minnesota.