New board member credits Mt. Hood with her success

Maggie Nelson has gone from taking classes at MHCC in the 1980s to being on district board in 2011.

Nelson was a housewife and a mother of two when she decided to go back to school and get her degree in teaching. Her love for learning was rekindled here as she worked toward her goal of transferring to a four-year college.

She credits her success to MHCC’s teachers and counselors. “I worked closely with counselors at MHCC, who did a wonderful job in making my transition to a four-year university a smooth one,” said Nelson. Nelson said she stayed an extra year taking math classes because she enjoyed them so much.

When she transferred to PSU, her advisers wanted her to pursue teaching mathematics because of her thorough knowledge in the subject. However, her heart was set on teaching elementary school.

After receiving her degree in education, Nelson was a teacher at St. Therese Elementary. She spent her time teaching third and fourth grade where she loved teaching social studies and focusing on Portland’s rich history.

Her classes were always busy with projects building the bridges that characterize Portland, or taking field trips to downtown where the students were given the opportunity to talk with the mayor. Nelson would also take her classes to the MHCC’s planetarium.

She and other St. Therese teachers would fill the auditorium where their classes were mesmerized by the show’s spectacular views as they listened to Doug McCarty’s lectures. Nelson was happy to be bringing in revenue for the school she had loved going to so much.

Nelson retired as a teacher in 2010, but felt she had more to give to the community. She decided to run for MHCC board earlier this year. Her motivation to run for the board came from the experience she had at MHCC and the connections she had made as a teacher and active member of the community.

“I’m interested to know if students are having as wonderful an experience as I did,” said Nelson.

Nelson prepared herself for working on the board by paying close attention to the contract negotiations last year, reading every piece of news she could get her hands on and asking a lot of questions.

First and foremost, Nelson has said she would like to familiarize herself with the various groups on campus and understand the concerns and communicate them to the board for discussion.

She also expressed her interest in becoming involved in the Oregon Community College Association, as well as the Association of Community College Trustees.

Both associations are will help MHCC stay in tune with trends and innovations in education at the community college level. Nelson said she is looking forward to serving on the board and feels like any job, that it’ll take time to find her comfort zone.

In her free time Nelson enjoys reading, making jewelry, gardening, ballet and playing Sudoku. She’d like to recommend two biographies she just read: “Falling Leaves: The memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter,” written by Adeline Yen Mah; and “Same kind of Difference as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together,” written by Denver Moore and Lynn Vincent.