Meet Sherry Vaught

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherry Vaught.

Hi Sherry, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
I am 61 years old and have been a teacher for 33 years. Most of that time, I have taught in Mansfield, Ohio, but I taught for several years in Harrisburg, Pa as a young adult. I am the daughter of the Anna Forbes Reese, the first in her family to graduate from high school, and am the first in my family to graduate from college. I grew up working class and loved, and my father, Francis Reese, died when I was 16. I have a younger brother who is retried from the Navy. I was raised in the Church of the Brethren, a somewhat conservative Christian denomination, and am still active in my church. In my early 30’s, I was called to the ministry, and after finishing my master’s degree in special education, I attended Yale Divinity School. I moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where I had a difficult first pastorate and met my husband, Terry. Terry and I looked for a church between our two families and were called to the Mansfield First Church of the Brethren in 1998. Terry and I have lived in Mansfield our entire married life. During that time, I have taught in many Mansfield City Schools. We served the Mansfield Church of the Brethren until 2002. During those early days in Mansfield, we were trying unsuccessfully to have a child. We decided to prepare for missionary work. Terry enrolled at NC State for respiratory therapy, we resigned our pastorate at Easter, and by July, I found I was pregnant after more than 5 years! We were overjoyed and stayed busy at school, college, church, and early parenting of our son Reese. We were fill-in pastors in various places, and we learned a lot. Those were amazing and fun years! 

Reese is now 20, working full time and trying to figure out what to do next. Terry is pastor of the Paradise Church of the Brethren in rural Wooster and semi-retired. I am still teaching in Mansfield, but last year my third school closed: Prospect. I chose a position at the Middle School, teaching 8th graders about Career Technical training and guiding them to think about what they might like to do for their work. 

I have worked politically most of my adult life. I was involved in community organizing and politics in Harrisburg as a young teacher. I have always been involved in my union and was the grievance chairperson in the Harrisburg Education Association very early in my career. Since I have been in Ohio, I have canvassed for many issues, levies, and candidates. Reese tells me that he remembers walking with me when he was pretty little as I canvassed for Ted Strickland. Here is the weird thing: since I was working for the Ohio Education Association, I was not that active in the local Democratic party. First, I did not need to be – I was pretty active and did not desire another meeting in my life. Second, I was a busy working mom who was also very involved in my local church and denomination. Finally, I supported the Democratic party with my donations and my time. I did not feel that I needed to be involved in my local democratic stuff. However, that does not mean that I did not care about the work or the cause. 

It is in the spirit of action that I thought about running. 4 years ago, a young man named Donnie Bryant ran for mayor. Reese was very excited about it. I made a contribution and some phone calls for him. He lost, but it was really close. I knew our current mayor was term-limited after the current term and briefly thought about running, but it was a long way off! We know all that has happened in the world in the last few years!!! I was still busy with union work, teaching, and Reese finishing high school. I had some health concerns of my own since 2015- 3 knee replacements and gastric bypass surgery. I lost over 150 pounds and, so far, have kept it off. I feel a lot better, but it has been a really long process. I have changed a lot and have a lot more energy and ability to do things. I had closed another school in the spring of 2022 and continued to see Mansfield contracting. I spoke for our Prospect staff at the school board and was encouraged by my friends and colleagues. I thought about running for mayor again and even called the democratic headquarters, but no one returned my call. I thought it was too late. Surely, the Democrats had a candidate. 

In fall of 2022, I took a group of students to the city headquarters. I met Stephanie Zader, a councilwoman and also the chair of the Mansfield Schools Levy Committee. I worked for the passage of the levy last fall as well as canvassed for Tim Ryan. I was inspired by the Mansfielders I met. I was inspired by Stephanie. She is young and unafraid and wanted to run for mayor. I was so inspired by her that I decided to look into the realities of running. I researched the data. I saw that a full 50% of Mansfield voters are independent, that mayoral races have been close in the past, and there was room for a Democrat. By October I had done my homework about retirement systems and how my teachers’ retirement and the public servants’ retirement would work together. I knew it would be a long shot, but it might be worth it. Surely, though, the Democrats would field a candidate, I thought. I waited to see who would file a petition. 

This is a bit silly, but a final straw was the Mansfield Halloween parade. I realize that the parade is not necessarily a city-sponsored event. However, I was excited to do something with students for the parade. The info came to us that there was not to be a parade in 2022, just a trunk or treat on the square. Many people pivoted. There was a trunk or treat at the senior high, and we were preparing for a trunk or treat downtown. However, less than a week out, a parade was scheduled. It is really hard to pull something together to be in a parade in less than a week. I decided not to be involved. I really felt that lack of information and planning was a problem. We have a great town here, but to draw people in from other places to attend a parade, it cannot just be a bunch of people in costumes passing out candy and a few bands. It made me mad that Mansfield was made to look so unorganized. 

I want others to see Mansfield the way I do: Kind and committed people living in a really beautiful area, doing the best we can to have safe, comfortable lives. I am continually blown away by the stories and generosity I find in this city and actually, the whole area. Many people here are very focused on their family. This is not unusual anywhere. But I have found that here in Mansfield there are lots of stories about how folks got here, how long they have been here, where they own or have owned property, where they graduated from high school, and how they fit into the fabric of the city. As they tell me their stories, there is hospitality, laughter, and spacious grace given. People here are open and kind. We chose to come to Mansfield for a job. We chose to stay in Mansfield to raise a family. Despite neither of us having extended family here, we intend to age in place here and identify Mansfield as home. I want to see Mansfield be a vibrant, safe, and equitable community where all citizens have economic opportunities, reasonable and unbiased access to city services, and freedom to live as they want, raise families as they choose, and create even more economic opportunities for the future. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Sure, there are struggles! I am a veteran schoolteacher who has never run for office, running for mayor. I am a Democrat in a Republican area. My opponent has been preparing for several years to run with full party backing, and I filed paperwork in January and cannot quite find my party backing. My campaign does not have any money, and feel a little hesitant to raise money for a political campaign. But some of the challenges I would have listed a month or two ago are no longer as hard. I have come up against challenges before, and I figure something out. I am up to this job, running for then hopefully being mayor of Mansfield. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The thing that sets me apart from my opponent is point of view. I grew up working class. My dad died when I was in high school, and I watched my mom struggle to keep our family afloat. I have worked in urban school districts my whole professional career. I see the struggles of families in Mansfield. I work with kids in the foster system who have been let down by their families in profound ways. I work with kids from intact families who are loved and supported. I have had an opportunity to experience both those types of students (and lots in between!) who grew up and into successful lives. I have had too many students die violently, either at their parents’ hands or from violence in the community. I have been in the trenches with amazing professionals who care so deeply about our students that we buy stuff for them from our own small pocketbooks. I have seen, lived, and understand the struggles of working-class people. Not all the fields are fair. The thing I am most proud of is myself. I have worked hard my whole life. I care about others. I want the best for us as a city, state, and country. I want to give back because I have been so blessed. I believe in democracy and worry about the fragile state of our country at this time in history. Part of the reason I am running is because I hate seeing us tear apart and want to be a part of building up. I have faced depression several times in my life and gotten help to get through it. I have struggled to conceive. I have remained strong in my Christian faith despite serious doubts and struggles inside a patriarchal, hierarchical church. I have lived a lot of my life very overweight, and understand the bias and challenges that come from that reality. I am not successful because of my current weight, however. I am successful because I found a way to lose a lot of pain, both physical and mental. MANY people have helped me. It has been hard to write this paragraph. There are many ways that this run is intensely personal. Still, I persist. 

My specialty is enthusiasm. This is true in the classroom, my church, and in the community. I LOVE teaching. It is a big experiment every day. Trying to get about 20 young human beings to do anything is a challenge. Trying to empower them to learn… it is exhilarating!!! The mental and physical challenge of getting students to learn and grow is very encouraging to me. First, kids are learning and growing without me! Where teachers enter into that growth process is in bit serendipitous. I think the best teachers are like pied pipers, showing kids that reading, numbers, and facts about our world are both fun and powerful. Thinking one’s own thoughts, creating one’s own art or writing or pattern is very affirming to the individual. Self-esteem comes from the experience of creation. I am on fire for new creations coming from all of us! 

As a quick aside, I need to say that throughout my life, I have been told I laugh too loud, talk too much, scare people with my enthusiasm (yes, that was said to me!!!), am too much… and I tried to be a good girl. I have been asked to leave projects as a younger woman because I did not “fit in.” Each time things happened, I learned. I have learned to listen, make room for others, temper my emotions, and be more diplomatic. But now that I am older, I also know that I am a loud laugher (and often, I hope!) a good talker, and sometimes I am too much. But this goes back to being proud of myself. I no longer think I am wrong for being this way. Now I know how to work collaboratively in ways that celebrate my own gifts, but that also help bring out the gifts of others. I am proud to be who I am, and that is why I decided to share myself. Win or lose; I will not stop doing that!!!

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I am a teacher, and I think AI is going to change everything. What that means, looks like, or when it happens is anybody’s guess. I think mostly that is going to happen because there are not enough people going into teaching. Using AI can help me, as a teacher, reach WAY more kids, and they may or may not know when it is me vs the computer (and that alone makes me very happy that I am close to retirement!!!) 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sherryformansfield.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091300629696
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SherryForMayor
• Other: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/friends-of-sherry-vaught-1