One of the four women that are being inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame, is Jan Mitchell, who lives in Des Moines but spent 35 years in the Marshalltown Community School District.

Mitchell, who graduated from Marshalltown in 1960, was aN English teacher and a debate, speech and mock trial coach at Marshalltown High School before retiring in 2005. She was surprised that she was being considered for the induction.

“I was absolutely astonished that I was even considered,” she said.

While surprised, Mitchell is thankful nonetheless and honored to be inducted. Mitchell said her motto is centered around being there for others.

“Living life is about helping others,” she said.

Throughout her life, Mitchell has earned some awards. This includes the 1997 Iowa Educator of the Year Award , the 2019 Robert D Ray Award for Equity and Justice recipient and was inducted into the 2019 Iowa Latino Hall of Fame.

She was nominated by Diane Patton, a long time colleague with the American Association of University Women. To gather more information on her, Mitchell said Patton got in touch with Judy Lindholm, a former co-worker of Mitchell’s in Marshalltown, and Gabriella Vargas-Avalos, a former student of Mitchell’s. Vargas-Avalos’ story was important for the nomination and continued to help others.

Vargas-Avalos was classified as a junior at MHS when she and her family immigrated to the United States. Mitchell said Vargas-Avalos took an ESL (English as a Second Language) class and later was assigned to her class in her final semester of high school because of her intentions to go to college.

According to Mitchell, she helped Vargas-Avalos get a stronger grip on the English language just before Vargas-Avalos graduated high school and went to Buena Vista University.

In 2005, when Mitchell was retired, she said she and Vargas-Avalos caught up with one another in town. This encounter inspired Mitchell to keep on wanting to help others, Mitchell said.

Mitchell and Lindholm would later be a part of a small business, Linco Tower Associates, which helped teach teachers on how to teach students in online classes.

Another project that Mitchell was a part of was “Al exito,” which was a AAUW project that has now turned into a non-profit organization.

The program, which is meant to inspire and empower female Latina students was initially established at Miller Middle School in Marshalltown but has since grown to be statewide.

In retirement, Mitchell said she is still involved in what the AAUW does.

Contact Sam Stuve at 641-753-6611 or at sstuve@timesrepublican.com