At 7:30 every morning, for the last 20 years, Dorothy Bray has arrived to unlock the doors at Maywood Park.

The early riser is often the first person to arrive at the campus and the last person to leave the school at night. “Dorothy does everything,” said retired ESL teacher and longtime colleague Richard Campbell. “Sometimes she puts in 12-hour days.”

Bray, 62, was honored for her work by Mt. Hood Community College this year when she was presented with a 2005 Outstanding Support Staff Award. She admits that she was taken aback when MHCC President Bob Silverman surprised her with flowers and balloons in the Maywood Park front office in mid-December.

“I was flabbergasted,” she said. “I just hope that I said thank you for the flowers. I don’t even remember being polite.”

According to Bray’s supervisor Kim Freeman, the mother of four has been a “one-woman marketing center” for Maywood Park for nearly two decades. She is in charge of just about everything in the office from registration to cashiering to selling textbooks.

“I do a little bit of everything,” Bray said. “Whatever is necessary to keep the college functioning.”

She estimates that she has helped “gazillions” of students over the years.
“I think it was thousands,” said Campbell to his friend Bray. “I prefer gazillions,” she replied, laughing.

The former MHCC student said that she loves working at Maywood Park because of the people and the students. “I believe so much in the college and Maywood Park,” she said. “I just love to encourage the people who aren’t sure about going back to school.”

Apart from work, Bray is known for her stained-glass artwork. She enjoys making gifts for her friends and family and also owned a stained-glass business prior to becoming Maywood Park’s campus program assistant.

“I had pieces of art in The Real Mother Goose downtown, but that was many years ago,” said Bray.

Besides art, Bray enjoys spending time with her grandchildren. She has her daughter and three grandchildren living with her right now as well as her son who is recuperating from surgery. She said that she loves her “large extended family.”

Overall, Bray is happy with her achievement and the award.

“It is very flattering. I am humbled, but I must admit that I was really embarrassed,” she said. “I’m not much for the limelight.”

Her friend Campbell definitely thinks that she deserved the Outstanding Support Staff Award. “Maywood wouldn’t survive without her,” he said.