News Releases
December Employee of the Month: Mary Ellen Toriumi, School Nurse, Marion Jordan School
Being sent to the school nurse’s office is a scary experience for some young students, but Marion Jordan students don’t mind visiting “Mrs. T,” as they call Mary Ellen Toriumi. “Children feel comfortable in her office, and parents know that their children are in good hands,” her nominator said. “She is loved by all.”
Overseeing a number of involved health situations among the school’s students, Mary Ellen handles each as the professional nurse she is, noted her nominator. “Her ability to communicate in difficult situations is amazing. She informs parents and listens at the same time, always making sure the best care is taken for every student.” She also works to educate other school staff members about health concerns such as diabetes, food allergies, and others.
Mary Ellen is in her second year as a fulltime school nurse, and for the year prior to joining the Marion Jordan staff she was a substitute school nurse in the district. She came to school nursing after working for 12 years as a nurse in a family practice at Advocate Medical Group in Glenview. Before that, she worked as a nurse for her brother, a family practitioner, in Racine, Wisconsin, for three years.
Raised in Chicago, Mary Ellen is the youngest of nine children. “That’s why I like kids, because there were always a lot of them around,” she jokes. While in elementary school and attending Resurrection High School, Mary Ellen discovered she liked health, science, and math classes. Because her mother was a nurse, it was an area of study that seemed especially appealing, Mary Ellen said, so she attended nursing school at St. Mary of Nazareth in Chicago.
She likes school nursing because “no two days are the same. You can come across anything, from minor problems to serious medical conditions,” she says. “It’s nice to be there for the kids. They need somebody. I’m a parent myself, so I know that if you’re the parent of a child with a medical condition, it’s hard to trust someone else with their care. My co-workers keep reminding me, ‘They’re not your kids!’ But they’re great kids!”
Mary Ellen and her husband Scott are the parents of Molly, an active eight-year-old who is in third grade at Hunting Ridge. Mary Ellen says she does “the mother thing,” getting Molly to basketball and soccer games, Girl Scouts, Y Adventure Guides, and faith class, where Mary Ellen is the catechist. In her leisure time, Mary Ellen enjoys bike riding, playing on a co-ed softball team in the summer, and travel.
Mary Ellen will be recognized at the December 13, 2006, Board of Education meeting, to be held at Walter R. Sundling Junior High School, at 7 p.m.
|
