Lake Park High School Board 108

About

I’m running to serve on the Lake Park High School Board because I deeply value public education as a common good and a cornerstone of democracy. It’s also a crucial vehicle of opportunity for all students to succeed in an advanced, competitive global economy. Nonpartisan, local governance is vital to public schools. Public schools are places where neighbors can cooperate across differences to engineer outcomes that enrich our children and our community.

School board members must navigate the needs of a large constituency: students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers. I bring skills in two fields: business and education. I have undergraduate and master’s degrees in finance, marketing, and business policy from the University of Illinois and Northwestern. Professionally I’ve worked in financial analysis, public relations, and fundraising. I have a second master’s in education with a special education endorsement. My 20 years of front-line educational service – including my work with special needs students – gives me an understanding of the whole-child needs of all students. I’m also adept at understanding educational data and research to guide Lake Park’s continuous improvement. That combination of business and education expertise would allow me to provide governance focused on both fiscal stewardship and academic achievement.

Lake Park is home to students of different ethnicities, socioeconomic profiles, religions, reading levels, athletic abilities, and perspectives. This is important because research shows diversity fosters creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and compassion. Diversity of skills and perspectives among school board members is also important to achieve representation and elevate decision-making.

Maximizing success in high school requires years of cumulative instruction. If elected, I’ll focus on five key areas:

1. K-12 coordination. The Illinois Board of Education’s new Comprehensive Literacy Plan and its Comprehensive Math Plan (currently in development) are exciting and will enhance core reading and math instruction statewide. However, it’s challenging to address learning difficulties in high school. We need to improve the coordination of curriculum, instruction, and assessment across Lake Park’s elementary feeder districts.
2. Birth to 5. This age range is a critical period for brain development; assisting parents at that time can raise later outcomes.
3. School safety – protecting teachers and kids at school is paramount.
4. Work-based learning. Lake Park is a leader in preparing students for real-world success.
5. Wise financial management. Federal revenue streams remain uncertain, we’re in a rising cost environment and the high school is undertaking a facilities plan for maintenance and upgrades.

I’d like to be part of the team that sets goals and policies to equip our graduates for higher ed, vocational training, meaningful careers, and essential life skills. Securing every student a bright future keeps our community safe and strengthens our local and national economy.