New face spreading the message of safety

Theresa MacLennan wasn’t planning a career change — that is, not until she spotted the announcement for a new public education specialist at Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue.

“I saw this job announcement, it sounded like a fun job,” she said. “I’ve worked in public safety positions before and I thought this would bring my skills as an educator all together.”

Officially sworn in at Monday’s Board of Fire Commissioners meeting, MacLennan is not new to the education field or public safety. With a master’s degree in education from Oregon State University, MacLennan has spent the majority of her career educating others. Most recently she worked in the Workforce Development Department at Olympic College.

During her tenure at the college she spent four years in the WorkFirst program, running the family literacy program. She later moved within the department to Worker Retraining, serving as director of the program.

Helping displaced workers get back into the workforce, MacLennan would often browse the classifieds for job announcements. She spotted the vacant public education specialist position and although she wasn’t in the process of looking for another job, she quickly realized it was something she not only wanted to do, but was capable of doing.

She is confident her career and community experience will be beneficial now in her new role.

“I served on the Paul Linder Foundation for five years, it was a great opportunity to meet a lot of folks in the Central Kitsap community who are interested in promoting the health and welfare of children,” she said. “In promoting the health and welfare of children, you promote the community. I hope to be able to bring that aspect — not that it hasn’t been done before — to the job.”

From getting out into the community as much as possible to “rejuvenating” school programs, MacLennan brings with her a wide range of goals.

“I hope to bring safety messages into the schools,” she said. “My experience is parents often get safety messages from their children.”

A parent herself — she and her husband, Richard, have four children ages 11, 13, 15 and 20 — MacLennan is confident her

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