There is a new face in the District who is ecstatic to greet as many families as she can. Candice Cheesman is the new face of the Welcome Center for St. Cloud Area School District and she is more than happy to enroll new families.
Cheesman is not only new to District 742, but she is also new to Minnesota having relocated from Oklahoma.
“Even though the weather isn’t so nice, the people are,” exclaims Cheesman. “I have [already] slid off the road once. … In all the places I lived, I would never have had so many people stop on the side of the road to see if I’m ok. … It’s really cool.”
Having grown up in Southern California and lived in Texas and upstate New York, Minnesota is a new adventure for her.
Previously, Cheesman was the outreach and operations supervisor for the admissions office at Oklahoma State University (OSU). She is no stranger to welcoming families at an education institution.
“I was excited about this position,” says Cheesman. “When they told me that I’d be working with families . . . who are sending their babies off to school for the first time, I just thought, ‘So they are smaller college freshmen.’ Except here, it’s right for their mom to come fill out their paperwork and not so much when they were at OSU!”
Her first month has been extremely busy with kindergarten enrollment, but when she has the time to really sit with a family, she loves it. There are a few coloring pages hanging in the Welcome Center from new enrollees who’ve colored pictures just for her.
It’s Cheesman’s sense of adventure and working with young families that drives her. Being a mother herself, she has discovered a whole new appreciation for parents and their involvement with their kids.
After her son was born and began growing, she realized she needed to keep him active.
“I absolutely love Boy Scouts,” says Cheesman. “This is the first year I haven’t been a Boy Scout Leader. When I had a boy, I thought, ‘what am I going to do? I have no idea what to do with a boy!’ Having him has turned me into an adventurer. I’ve gone on crawling cave tours where you can barely fit through the holes. I went in a shark cage in Hawaii and climbed Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I’ve done all kinds of things just because I have a boy and want him to have that adventurous spirit.”
Her adventures led her to her very own kitchen as a cake baker and decorator. After a first attempt at a SpongeBob cake for her niece’s birthday (which fell apart), she quickly enlisted the help of her uncle, a pastry chef.
“He started teaching me so that I could do my sister’s wedding cake,” remembers Cheesman. “Once I got to Texas and I was a stay-at-home mom, and my son was one …, I just had all this extra time. So, I practiced and did more and more. Even though it was business, I barely made any money because I tended to give them away more. … I just enjoy it so much more when they are gifts.”
At this point, she’s happy to do any type of cake but a wedding cake!
Cheesman is very excited about her new journey here in Minnesota and at the Welcome Center. Though the District doesn’t offer crawling caves or shark cages, she feels she is on to her next big adventure, and she can’t wait to meet the next family that walks through the door.
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