By JON BAKER

PAWTUCKET  ---  Mary Ann Shallcross Smith well remembers those sunny, long-ago afternoons playing in her Saylesville backyard with best pal Kathy Bishop (now Wilson).

“We were in, like fifth grade, and she would ask me, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’” Shallcross Smith (then Mary Ann Killeen) recalled with a chuckle. “I always said that I wanted to be in the Statehouse, and I wanted to work for people to make their lives better.”
Turns out, that childhood dream has come to fruition. Late on Election Night, this 56-year-old Democrat — a long-time Lincoln resident and self-described educator/business entrepreneur who currently owns 24 child day-care centers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts — discovered she narrowly had captured the District 46 State Representative seat.
With a 52 to 48-percent triumph over Republican incumbent William McManus, Shallcross Smith celebrated with husband, Ronald,  other family members and dozens of friends at a gathering near Route 116. She never before had run for statewide political office, and her only previous experience stems from six years as a Lincoln School Committee member.
That matters little to her.
“After all those times as a youngster talking about the State House, and now I’m finally going to be there, I’m so excited,” she said while intermittently addressing staff members at her Dr. Day Care Family center, located at 462 Smithfield Ave. “It hasn’t been even 48 hours since I found out, so I’m still on a natural high.”
Seconds later, she added, “I will say I’m more than ready for the job. I know how to do this. I have an extensive background in leadership, and -- for over 20 years -- I’ve been inside the State House presenting legislation for child care, social work, small businesses and families. I want to be a voice for the people. I will be there for my constituents. Everyone knows that I’m just a phone call or an e-mail away, and -- when I’m contacted -- I make sure I return those messages as soon as humanly possible.
“I’m a woman who follows through, and really cares about people.”

***

That love for education and children began in the late 1960s at Lincoln High School. Upon graduating in 1970, she married and had a son, Keith. When he was an infant, she opened her own day-care center in her hometown, but years later -- once Keith had established himself in school -- she chose to enlist in night classes at the Community College of Rhode Island in 1979.
Three years later, in 1982, she had garnered an Associate of Arts in early childhood education, then moved on to the University of Rhode Island in Providence, where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science in human services in 1985.
She took those degrees to Rhode Island College, achieving a Master’s in counseling, then pursued a doctorate in human studies/leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which she collected in 1995.
Shallcross Smith previously had purchased her first day-care center in 1990, but since has bought (and currently oversees) 23 others between Mansfield and Westerly.
When asked why she chose to run, this mother of three (including Keith, Amy and son Christopher, now a forest fire fighter in the Salt Lake area of Utah) and grandmother to a trio (Keith’s own Mitchell, Benjamin and Oliver) claimed it had been in the back of her mind for a mighty long time.
Shallcross Smith, who has served on multiple education and community boards, had received back in April a call from Patrick Crowley, Lincoln Town Democratic Committee chairman.
“He just said, ‘Mary Ann, the committee (which she herself used to chair) has identified you as a possible candidate for the House of Representatives. Will you consider it?’” she noted. “I got off the phone and thought to myself outloud, ‘It’s time.’ I talked to my second husband, Ron, who has always had rock-solid support for me and my endeavors, and he said, ‘Go for it!’
“This was a perfect year to do it,” she continued. “First, my daughter, Amy Shallcross Vogel, came home from Fort Polk, La. after her husband had been deployed to Baghdad. I knew I needed a campaign manager, and she has a an MBA from Johnson & Wales (University), so she definitely filled the bill.
“Second, Pat had called me, and -- third, the most obvious -- it was something I always had pondered.”

***

Following her filing in late June with the Town Clerk’s office, Shallcross Smith hired Paul St. Germain as a campaign consultant, and he gave her the details of how to create brochures, address folks while walking door-to-door, fundraise and the like.
When friends, some dating back to LHS or earlier, found out about her candidacy, they flocked to volunteer as poll greeters and checkers. She noted that “Dream team” played a vital role in attaining victory.
“As a school committee member, I really enjoyed that; I found it very rewarding,” she said. “We were able to write policies, which in turn would help not only the kids but also the teachers, parents and community. I wanted to do the same on the state level.
“I’ve always been a ‘multi-tasker,’” she added. “Starting on the Fourth of July weekend, I walked to every single neighbor’s home in the district, which runs from George Washington Highway by the high school all the way down through Lonsdale and Saylesville to Fairlawn.”
During that stumping, she explained her issues: affordable health care for all Rhode Islanders; education for all, including special needs; and the state’s economic woes.
“I told everyone that I don’t have an ‘Ed.D.’ for no reason,” she grinned. “I plan on educating everyone what early childhood education is all about. That is, children from birth to eight years of age are in child-care centers every day, but it’s got nothing to do with babysitting. It’s about teaching, nurturing and making sure they’re cared for. Some don’t know that in the first five years of a child’s life, that’s when and where all the building blocks are formed. That’s a kid’s educational foundation, and what they learn sets up continued success once they reach the school system.
“I’d also say I’m an advocate for all schools, public and private, from elementary level right on up through high school and higher. And it’s not just that: When it comes to the economy, hey, I’m a small business owner, and I want to look at the taxation of such businesses, their over-regulation and also how to create more small businesses statewide.
“Last but not least, I want to be a support system for families of servicemen and women, those who serve our country,” she continued. “I have a son-in-law (Andrew Vogel) who is on the front lines in Iraq as an infantryman, so I understand exactly what military families have to go through. I want to make sure that those serving now, and our veterans, get the services they need and deserve.”
Shallcross Smith noted she has no qualms about speaking her mind in the General Assembly, and that she feels no trepidation about representing her district. She stated she would do so with the same ferocity she has for her own day-care staffs and children.
“I’m not nervous at all,” she offered. “Like I said, I’ve testified on legislation for years, and I have the leadership skills to do this. If I have a goal, a vision, I’m totally focused on achieving it, making it happen. I think I’ve proven myself in the past. I’m going to Smith Hill to compliment the process and bring attention to all children and family issues.”