Candidate for
Board Member; Oakley Union Elementary School District

My name is Lauri Winters and I am an appointed incumbent for one of the School Board positions available in the Oakley Unified Elementary School District. I have been a Board Member since January of this year, when a vacancy was created due to the resignation of a previous Board Member. It has been a fascinating, interesting year.

I am a 30+ year resident of East Contra Costa County. My husband and I purchased our first home in Oakley in October of 1992. I have two children, a son 15 years old who went all the way thru the Oakley Elementary School system and is now a sophomore at Freedom High School and my daughter who is currently in third grade at Vintage Parkway School. I have been active as a volunteer in both of my children's classrooms over the years and have found it very rewarding to see first hand how many awesome educators we have in this school district.

I have also volunteered in many capacities for both the Vintage Parkway and Delta Vista PTA's and School Site Council. My most recent triumph, though, I feel, is that I was a part of the Measure H Campaign Committee, which was the bond measure that was passed last November that will help build new schools and modernize the two older schools in the District. Having Measure H pass by almost 20% more than the required amount was very satisfying, and meant that all the extra hours and hard work paid off in a big way. We recently broke ground on Iron House Elementary School on Cypress Road, and we are moving ahead on the modernization project at Oakley Elementary School.

Several years ago, when I was employed as an Instructional Aide for a year at O'Hara Park School, I got to learn about some of the inner workings of running a school, what many of the obstacles are, as well as many of the joys. Last year when I read that the School Board was going to have an opening, I thought that it seemed like a natural progression for me, as far as my involvement with the School District, so I applied for the vacant seat. The Educators and Administrators in the Oakley Unified Elementary School District are some of the most dedicated and innovative people I have met, and I felt this would be an excellent opportunity for me to get to work with them.

In January 2005, I was appointed to fill the vacant seat on the School Board and it has been a great year, but I feel like I have just begun. One of the highlights of the year was being a part of naming a new school and then attending the ground breaking of that school. Oakley is growing by leaps and bounds and more schools must be built so that the standard of excellence in education that we have now can be continued. I am eager to continue being a part of all of this, to ensure that this "little" District will become an even greater "big" district and continue with the wonderful work they do for the children of our community. I would appreciate your vote on November 8, 2005. Thank you.