2027 ESP of the Year Dawn Ressler: The Power of Play

“Let’s go play!”

For Dawn Ressler, a physical therapy assistant for Mandan Public Schools and North Dakota United’s 2027 Education Support Professional of the Year, those three words are often used as a greeting, a preview of the day’s lesson plan, and her own personal philosophy for helping students succeed.

Whether she’s helping a student carry a lunch tray, sit independently, move safely through school or build the coordination needed to catch, throw, jump and skip in physical education, Ressler believes therapy works best when students are having fun.

“We don’t say, ‘Let’s go work,’” Ressler said. “We say, ‘Let’s go play.’”

By approaching therapy through play, Ressler helps students discover that movement, confidence and learning can happen together.

She intentionally begins with activities students can accomplish before gradually increasing the challenge, allowing early success to build confidence for more difficult skills.

“You’re here because this is hard,” Ressler will tell her students. “If it wasn’t hard, you wouldn’t need me.”

That same philosophy extends beyond her work with students.

Colleagues across Mandan Public Schools describe Ressler as someone who is always willing to step in wherever she's needed. In nominating her for ESP of the Year, Mandan Education Association President Alexis Rasset wrote, “On a professional level, she is a tireless leader and resource for her peers, known for being always willing to assist colleagues in any capacity needed.”

Whether filling in as a paraeducator, helping in understaffed classrooms, assisting on field trips or simply providing another set of hands, Ressler doesn't hesitate to help.

“If I see that they’re short-staffed or if they’re doing a project and they could use extra hands, I just flit in where I’m needed,” she said. “Often, a teacher just looks at me and says, ‘I gotta go to the bathroom.’ Sometimes, the most important thing is just being the human in the room.”

That spirit of service also carries into her union involvement. Ressler has served as a building representative for Mandan Education Association, attended North Dakota United ESP conferences and professional development events, and advocates for education support professionals during legislative sessions.

“People don’t always understand what ESPs do,” Ressler said. “A lot of times, people don’t know who I am in the district unless their kid is with them, and their kid tells them what I do.”

Yet perhaps the greatest affirmation of her work comes not from awards, but from the students whose lives she's touched.

“Sometimes kids are just glad to see my face when they’re at a new school,” Ressler said. “They’re scared. ‘I saw you at my other school.’ Seeing that familiar face helps them.”

Moments like those remind Ressler that even the smallest acts of kindness and encouragement leave a lasting impression.

“I guess people notice what you do,” she said, “and you don’t even know they’re noticing.”