By HELEN GUILFORD
Expositor Feature Editor

Most Wauseon residents know the Carolyn Short who dedicated her life to the betterment of education for Wauseon's children. But, do they know the Carolyn Short who has been named Wauseon's Citizen of the Year?

During an interview, Short told a little of her 42 years in the Wauseon school system as a classroom teacher, a teacher in specialties and finally in administration as principal of Leggett St. Primary School, but she didn't dwell on that. That part of her life has already been addressed.

Carolyn Short                   

The question this day was, "What now?"

As soon as her retirement became effective at the end of June, Carolyn began volunteering at the Fulton County Health Center. She now volunteers once or twice a month there.

She took her resume  to Sauder Village and was hired to work in the General Store in costume. Interestingly, they didn't place her in their one room school.

She also works for the University of Toledo. In that realm, she supervises junior year students who are in the schools teaching some lessons. These students are not yet truly student teaching, but are beginning the process. In their junior year, they take their methods courses and learn to write lesson plans and to carry out those plans in the classroom. It is Carolyn's job to observe them in action - actually teaching lessons and then to evaluate them. This seems to be right up Carolyn's alley!

She also volunteers as a board member for Habitat for Humanity, is on the Mercy Commission at her church, North Clinton Mennonite, as a representative for Habitat for Humanity and teaches an adult Sunday School class.

So, filling her time since retirement has not been a problem.

What are her dreams?
Her yen for learning has not yet been totally satisfied so she would like to take some Elderhostel trips which combine travel with learning. There are Elderhostel trips within the confines of the U.S. as well as internationally. At this point, she doesn't have any specific plans and would be interested in either national or international travel with that group. 

Another dream is to go to Australia, something she has always wanted to do. 

She will start her travels this winter by pending January through March in Florida. While there, she will meet a mission team from North Clinton Church in Miami where they will work with the "Open Door" program. They will possibly be working in soup kitchens and other outlets, but, just like her retirement plans, that is flexible - whatever she is asked to do, she will do.

Asked about being named Citizen of the Year, Carolyn said, "I was shocked!" When she received a telephone call from the Chamber of Commerce office, she expected to be asked to volunteer in some capacity, and then learned she had been named Citizen of the Year. As of now, she has no idea what her responsibilities in that capacity might be, but they said they would get back to her.

Carolyn expresses her gratitude to the community saying, "This community has been so good to me! I have lived here since I was three years old. I got my education here. My job was here. I've had lots of support through that time and when I fought through some serious problems, that support was always there." Total strangers would stop her at the grocery or on the street to say, "We're praying for you!" "That means a lot," she added.

One more, thing, Carolyn wants to pass on. "Life is doing things you feel are making a contribution,  not, looking forward to retirement. You're happiest when you're involved."