Photo by Jim Tate Tony Aafedt is shown in one of the child care classrooms at Dawson-Boyd High School.

On occasion, Tony Aafedt has to take a step back and check which hat he’s wearing.

There’s many.

Aafedt is the Community Education coordinator, the athletic director and the transportation director at Dawson-Boyd High School, a position he’s held for five years.

“They had the three positions as part-time with three different people and did some reorganization and combined them into one, and approached me,” he explained.

He’s also very community-minded, serving on the Dawson Economic Development Authority board of directors. He’s a former school board member and is concerned about the students in the district, but also the big picture for Dawson itself.

There’s a community day care housed in the high school, which falls under the umbrella of Community Education. It’s a service that’s badly needed in Dawson, he said.

“There’s a huge shortage of day care providers,” he said. “Having child care in the schools is more and more common, as many day care providers are getting out of the business.”

It began 10 years ago, as a collaboration between the local hospital and the high school.

“The hospital donated a room and the school ran it,” explained Aafedt. “Then COVID came along and the hospital didn’t want the traffic.”

Since moving to the school, “it’s just exploded,” he said.

The day care center is open to all community residents. Last month, there were 27 infants and toddlers, and there’s approximately 60 children, birth to school-age.

The school employs 12 full-time licensed daycare teachers.

“There’s a whole slew of regulations and inspections associated with it,” he said.

The day care center is located in several rooms within the D-B school, which recently underwent a $23 million remodel and expansion.

Good, affordable day care is an economic development issue, he said, along with adequate housing in the community and jobs. It’s a domino affect, and all three must be considered when working for “a community solution.”

Right now there’s three job openings for every person looking for work in Dawson. PURIS, a pea-protein processing plant, opened up and added 100 jobs. AGP is a soybean processing plant in town. Other major employers are Cliff Viessman Trucking and Johnson Memorial Health Services.

“You have to be proactive, the population is shrinking in this part of the state, and we have a low unemployment rate, about 2.7%. Pioneer Public Television did a series on PURIS, how it affected Dawson. We’ve got jobs here, but there’s a lack of housing, and a shortage in child care. It’s a great problem to have, but since COVID, interest rates are up, and every thing’s more expensive. The answers won’t come overnight. We need a community solution, and there’s pros and cons to everything.”

The child care center is very affordable, said Aafedt. “Prices are low, and we want to keep them low,” he said. “There’s little overhead. Meals are prepared in the school kitchen, and the school has to be heated, and cooled. The center piggy-backs on what’s available already. It makes sense.”

Affordable housing, adequate child care and finding workers for available jobs are all issues that are interconnected, he feels.

“You have to look at the big picture, attracting young families and keeping the community moving forward,” he said.

Community Education also includes GED classes and English as a Second Language classes, along with the usual lineup of youth athletics during the school year and in the summer months.

A Community Fitness Center was built as part the school expansion/renovation and all those age 16 and up can join for just $25 per month. That allows access to treadmills and other fitness machines, free weights, basketball courts and the swimming pool.

Aafedt retired after 32 years with the Army National Guard. He spent most of his active Guard years in Montevideo and Madison. The last six years of his career he was stationed at Camp Ripley and the Minnesota Joint Forces Headquarters in St. Paul. He was the Range Control NCO at Camp Ripley and was the State School’s Manager while in St. Paul.

He and his wife Cindy are Dawson natives and are the parents of three adult children: Cody, Madeline and Lydia.

After he was approached about the position, he got his master’s in educational leadership. His undergraduate degree is in business from the University of Sioux Falls.

Though he’s late to the field of education, he feels the skills he learned in the service dovetail nicely with the skills needed at Dawson-Boyd.

“The leadership training, what I learned (in the Army National Guard), melds nicely with this position,” he said.