Candidate for
Governing Board Member; El Segundo Unified School District

I am an advocate for children. I have been working with and for children for all of my adult life. I believe that children should not be seen just as future adults, but individuals to be valued for who they are right now. While we must keep in mind what comes next for them, we also must strive to make their life meaningful and joyful in the present.

A high quality education is not represented by high standardized test scores. Those are almost exclusively predicted by family income and parent education level. What makes a child's education great is the attention to the whole child, not just their academic achievement. We should be responsive to the needs and interests of the child, inspiring him or her to explore and construct knowledge through active learning and innovative, creative thinking.

Research has shown that children who show persistence, who have the attitude, "I'm not getting it yet, but if I keep trying, I know I will," are far more successful students than those who give up easily. Excellent schools help children develop persistence in the face of adversity by scaffolding their learning with appropriate support and encouragement.

All humans, children and adults, learn better when their interest and imagination have been engaged. Skilled teachers know how to create a learning environment within their classrooms that motivates children to learn by providing new skills and information that children can incorporate into their repertoire of knowledge. Great curriculum builds on the interests of the children by making them active participants in the learning process rather than empty vessels to fill up with facts and figures. Most importantly, we must help children to become skillful problem-solvers in order to prepare for a world that is constantly changing in ways that are not always predictable.