Shawn Dorman hired as Pekin’s 7-12 principal

PACKWOOD — Shawn Dorman is the new secondary school principal in the Pekin Community School District.

When he begins his duties this fall, Dorman will be in charge of grades 7-12, and will be one of many new administrators in the district. Pekin will also have a new elementary principal, dean of students and a superintendent. Southeast Iowa residents may already be familiar with Dorman since he has taught at Fairfield High School since 2014. His wife Rachel is an FHS alumna, and teaches reading at Pence Elementary School in Fairfield.

Dorman said his No. 1 goal in his new role is providing students with a safe learning environment where they get excited about coming to school.

“I want our community to be proud of the school they send their students to,” Dorman said. “I want Pekin to be a place that is talked about for the great things that we do every day. Our students are extremely talented, and the staff we have has such a dedication to education.”

Early life

Dorman grew up in Indianola and attended Indianola High School where he played football and baseball, and was on the debate team. After high school, he attended Marshalltown Community College where he also played baseball. That’s where he met his future wife Rachel, who was on the college’s softball team. Dorman transferred to St. Ambrose University in Davenport, where he majored in history education, and graduated in the spring of 2014.

Shawn and Rachel got engaged in the fall of 2013, and they wanted to find teaching jobs that were close to either her family or his. Rachel was hired to teach fourth grade at Libertyville Elementary School, “so to the Southeast Iowa we moved” Dorman said.

Move to Fairfield

At the time, Fairfield didn’t have any openings for a history teacher as Dorman had hoped, so Dorman settled for a teaching job a little way down the road at Burlington Notre Dame. However, Dorman lucked out because a social studies job in Fairfield opened up the summer before he was to begin teaching, so he was able to get out of his contract with Burlington Notre Dame and join his wife in the Fairfield school district.

Dorman said he’s always loved history and “how we got to the place we are in the world today.” Dorman added other subjects to his teaching repertoire, such as psychology and sociology.

“Psychology was the field I was probably most interested in coming out of high school,” he said. “Understanding the complexity of the human brain and that that understanding can be utilized to help people really got me excited.”

Becoming an administrator

For the first few years of his teaching career, Dorman said he was just trying to “keep my head above water,” focusing on how to engage his students in the educational material. As he grew more comfortable in his role, he began to think about the greater impact he could have on students as an administrator. In 2017, he started taking classes to become an administrator, and finished it two years later.

Dorman was excited to learn of the opening for secondary principal at Pekin, since it was so close, and because he had already done some observation hours at the school while working through his administrative program.

“I loved the idea of going to a small district where there was an excitement to have me a part of,” he said. “I reached out to a few people that I knew who were a part of the Pekin community and on staff to get a sense of the building and school. Throughout the process, I heard nothing but great things.”

Dorman said he views his new role as a chance to provide stability to a district that will have many new faces in its administration.

“The outpouring of support since I accepted the position was just a confirmation of my initial beliefs,” he said. “The entire Pekin community I have engaged with has been nothing but supportive of me and that excitement only fuels my desire to work even harder.”

Family life

Shawn and Rachel have three children: Tinley, 5, Easton, 4, and Hudson, 1. Dorman said they keep him and his wife busy, and the family enjoys going on walks, going to the park, and drawing. Dorman said he’s had a chance to do some coaching in the Fairfield school district, and he recently picked up golf as a hobby.

“I'm not quite sure I have gotten any better over the past year, but it has been a great chance to try something new,” he said.

Dorman said he’s grateful for the experience he got in the Fairfield school district, and is excited for his new role in the fall.

“We can't wait to cheer on the Panthers in our red and black!” he said.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com