My vision for District 96 is a collaborative environment driven by shared support for the district’s mission to promote critical thinking, creativity, and a well-rounded education.
I would like to bring the board’s focus back to educational goals and the importance of continuous learning. It is imperative that we focus on being advocates for the children of District 96 and their achievement through student-centered policies. The district will benefit from schools that not only achieve academic excellence, but focus on helping students to become well-educated partners in our community.
The board of education must work collaboratively as a team, and with the administration, to achieve our mission of excellent education. To this end, I strongly believe that the board should have one member with a background in education who is well-versed in the language and field of education.
Education has been my lifelong passion. I have had the privilege of teaching students in preschool, elementary, high school and college. This professional experience will help provide meaningful learning opportunities for students, improve outcomes, and avoid wasteful spending.
My experience is not limited to the classroom. Having been on many committees during my professional career, including a district Strategic Planning Committee, School Improvement Team, Interdisciplinary Committee and Tech Prep Team, I have extensive experience working with superintendents, principals, teachers, parents and residents. These experiences give me insights into effective collaboration and long-range planning both at the district and school level.
My Bachelor of Science degree in molecular and integrative physiology and my dual Master in Science and Teaching taught me how people learn and what instructional practices correlate with concept mastery, achievement, life-long retention, and growth.
This background will help me promote research-based policies that best support continuous learning for all students. I will support cost-effective policies that have been shown to enhance student engagement and achievement such as project-based learning, hands-on activities, interdisciplinary studies, and movement in the classroom.
My background in science has also given me skills to ask relevant questions, analyze data and evidence, and form conclusions to provide direction, financial oversight, and accountability for the administration.
The next board of education will have the responsibility of negotiating a new teacher contract, hiring a new superintendent and developing a long-term strategic plan. I believe that my professional experience and positive attitude will help build an open line of communication with teachers to negotiate the best result for all stakeholders.
It is essential that the relationship between the board and the administration be one of trust and mutual respect. Fostering a constructive relationship between the board, administration, teachers, parents, and the community is important to me.
I want the people that I work with to feel the same way that I want my students to feel: listened to, supported, challenged, excited to move forward, and part of a team.
Our district has much work to do, and I am excited to offer my professional experience to help realize a result of which we can all be proud.
