Frederick County BOE candidate profile: Dr. Lois Jarman

By Ryan Miner 

Maryland candidates seeking access to the ballot have until 9:00 p.m. on February 3 to register their names for the April 26 primary election. In some down-ballot races, however, the primary may be skipped altogether, and the registered candidates will compete only in the November 8 general election.

In Frederick County, three, so far, have registered as candidates for the Frederick County Board of Education, including Jay Mason, Dr. Lois Jarman and Shirley McDonald. My goal is to profile each of the Board of Education candidates running and interview them on A Miner Detail, my online radio show.

This article will provide a brief profile on Frederick County Board of Education candidate Lois Jarman.

Jarman, 55, registered as a candidate for the Frederick County BOE on December 23, 2015. According to the Maryland State Board of Elections website that lists candidates who have filed to run for public office, Jarman lives in Knoxville, an unincorporated community in Frederick County.

The “About” section of Jarman’s campaign website, LoisJarmanBOE.com, lists the following details:

“Education: 

• BA, Goucher College
• MA, Hood College
• Doctor of Professional Studies, Shenandoah University

Elected Office: None

Past Organizational Leadership:

Brunswick Middle School Parent-Teacher-Association, President

Brunswick High Athletic Boosters

Fredericktowne Players, Board member

Penn Laurel Girl Scouts, Troop leader

 Boy Scout Troop 277, Committee member

FCPS Family Life Advisory Committee, Chairperson

Frederick Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Board member

Frederick County Landmarks Association, Board member

Affiliations:

American Council of Teaching Foreign Language

Frederick Memorial Hospital Auxiliary

Goucher College Alumni Association

Central Maryland PFLAG”

A March 24, 2013 article, written by staff writer Brenden Darby and entitled “Dr. Lois Jarman Finds French and Teaching” was published in The Picket, Shepherd University’s student-run newspaper. Darby’s article detailed Jarman’s personal journey into teaching.

Here are some of the highlights from the article:

“Dr. Lois Jarman never wanted to be a teacher, not in a million years. She wanted to be a lawyer, and so she set out to do just that. Life had different plans for her, however, when she found French.

She currently teaches French at Shepherd University. She also writes interest pieces for the Frederick News Post in Maryland.

Jarman taught at FCC for four years and built up a French program from scratch. She was also in the midst of her doctorate and decided to apply for a full-time position at FCC. After waiting, she finally got called in about her application.

Jarman also runs a drag show, the proceeds of which go to help AIDS patients. She has even written 10 books for about what life in the Middle Ages was like.

The AIDS benefit has been done once a year for the past 12 years and comes in the rather unorthodox but fun guise of a drag show. People wishing to make donations can pay a small entry fee to help those suffering from AIDS-related complications and in return get to spend an entertaining evening watching the show.

Jarman also enjoys contributing frequently to the Frederick News Post, where her articles appear most frequently in the “Art, Life, and Entertainment” section. Her most recent article covered her husband and son winning tickets to Super Bowl XLVII, which saw the Baltimore Ravens win against the San Francisco 49ers.”

FreeState Legal, a legal advocacy organization that seeks to improve the lives of low-income lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) Marylanders, profiled Jarman in an April 27, 2015 article, entitled “Community Icon: Lois Jarman.”

Here’s a portion of the article:

” She worked with Frederick County Public Schools to bring about the first staff LGBTQ training workshop that took place in October of 2014, and she is the adviser for the GSA at the high school where she teaches.  She also works extensively to help bring youth programs to her community.

Lois is the co-chairperson for the annual World AIDS Day Benefit, A Little Song, A Little Dance.  The benefit has raised over $75,000 for local AIDS/HIV organizations.  Lois has served as a judge for Miss Gay Maryland, Miss Gay Pennsylvania, Miss Gay DC, and many local preliminary pageants for Miss Gay America.”

According to Jarman’s website that lists her candidacy platform,

“I have been an educator practically my entire life, from the time I played school with my siblings in our basement, to teaching and parenting my two children, to spending almost seventeen years as a teacher with Frederick County Public Schools.  I will be retiring as a teacher in June so that I can work towards helping students by affecting policies that change what goes on in our classrooms.

     I have always believed that good education is made from a triangle of people:  students, teachers and administrators, and parents.  A solid education is the result of people working together.  That’s why I plan to be people-focused in my efforts to help our schools.

     I also believe that our schools should be governed locally.  Recently, there has been too much federal influence on our local schools.  People in our community should recognize the needs of our students and be there to provide the resources necessary to meet those needs.

     I also would like to see members of our community find common ground for decision making and implementing policies that will best help our students.  We can come together to resolve issues within our schools.

     I am hopeful about the future of our schools.  Frederick County schools have consistently performed well and I believe that by putting people first, having local control, and finding common ground for better decision making, Frederick County schools will be the best they can.”

The Frederick-News Post also profiled Jarman’s candidacy in a December 23 article, writing,