Candidate for
Board Member; San Juan Unified School District

I have worked as an educator all of my adult life. I believe that my background as a teacher, parent and the work that I have done developing and implementing educational policy provide we with a unique set of skills that I would like to apply as we face a critical time for this district and our children.

If elected I will make sure that we do not lose focus on our first mission which is providing the best possible education for all our children. In additional to assuring that all students have the foundational skills they need, I want to assure that our students have an opportunity to find their purpose and their passion. I believe that all students bring considerable talents with them to their classrooms. We must do a better job of exploring those and incorporating them into their learning particularly as they learn how to solve problems and explore their creative talents.

I believe that at the heart of improving our schools and helping every student reach their potential are teachers that are engaged in the never ending process of encouraging their students. Because I believe that there is no one right way to teach any subject, we must constantly explore new strategies to offer instruction. We must protect the learning time for students, and we must encourage trying to learn in different ways. We encourage risk taking and explore the mistakes that we make, because understanding where we went wrong is one of the most powerful tools in learning.

I believe that we vastly under-utilize the talents of the parents, grandparents of community members of our district. I believe that community members can play a much more substantive role as we build a community of learners. In a time when resources are scarce some would argue that it is time to lower our expectations for our students and our community. I would argue just the opposite, that we must come together as a community and use our human capital to increase what we expect of each other as we invest in our students. I want to be part of that community of learners, and I ask for your vote.