by Dennis Dalman
Although she’s been the Sartell-St. Stephen Community Education Director since July 1, Jen Traver is still learning about community education and all that it involves, and she is still trying to communicate to the public the many benefits of the program.
In addition to her job as community-education director, Traver also serves as the activities director for Sartell Middle School.
“My job is interesting,” she said in an interview with the Newsleaders. “There are so many things involved with it. I’m gaining a knowledgeable basis on all aspects of it. This job has a significant learning curve to it.”
Traver was hired to do the job done previously by Chris O’Brien, who moved to another school district.
All too many people mistakenly think that community education offers just a bunch of summer fun activities. She wants people to know the program offers a huge variety of programs year-round for all ages and interests. Community education supports athletics, academics, enrichment programs such as arts and crafts, science classes, classes on learning how to sew and to cook, music, piano lessons, dance, youth archery, after-school activities and classes, swimming lessons, a class on fitness-health-recreation for adults and so much more, including – yes – lots of summer fun activities.
To see the full range of community-education offerings, visit its website at isd748.org/communityed. People can peruse all the current offerings on that website and then join an activity or sign up for a class or program.
The community education publishes three catalogues every year, a process that Traver has restarted after a lapse. The summer catalogue, for example, is 32 pages of classes, courses, enrichment programs – all tailored to a wide range of ages, interests and skills. That catalogue’s offerings can be found on the website noted above.
Another thing most people are unaware of is that Minnesota is the only state in the nation that funds school districts so they can support community-education programs for any and all people living within each school district. In a sense, community education is an extension of the school district to include all manner of people, ages and interests – thus, its name, community education.
A good example of that outreach is the senior program at the Sartell Community Center with its vast array of programs, courses and enrichment activities. An engagement director, Ann Doyscher-Domres, is employed by Community Education to facilitate that programming, primarily – but not solely – for older adults.
Traver
Originally from Rice Lake, Wis., Jen Traver earned a degree in social studies from St. Cloud State University. She taught social studies for 24 years at the high-school level and was the head Sartell girls basketball coach from 2000-2008. A Sartell resident, she and her husband, Wayne Traver, have boys – one who just graduated from Sartell High School and one still in high school.
