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Los Angeles County, CA November 3, 2015 Election
Smart Voter Full Biography for George "Chris" Zelazo

Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Lancaster School District; Trustee Area 1

[photo]
This information is provided by the candidate

I have enjoyed almost fifty years as an educator. During this time I have held many positions that, I believe, have given me a well-rounded view of the basic challenges facing education today. This experience has spanned from working with kindergartners who are just new to school life, to adults who were trying to regain the education that they had lost in their younger years. Listed below are these positions:

  • Elementary grade teacher
  • Middle school substiute teacher**
  • Special Education substitute teacher**
  • Computer Lab Teacher
  • On Campus Suspension Supervisor**
  • Library Media Center Teacher
  • Summer School Principal
  • Reading Teacher at San Jose Job Corps**
  • Academic Manager at San Jose Job Corps**
  • GED Instructor at Everest College**

The underlying value in all these positions is the personal development that occured as the duties of each were executed. Below is a brief list of qualities that I had adopted as a result:

  • A deep appreciation for the value of an individual's desire to lead a successful and valuable life irregardless of their circumstances and/or their environment.

  • A complete understanding of the frustrations parents, teachers, administrators, and students face as they try to succeed in the educational system.

  • Compassion for struggling students, struggling families, and struggling schools that are trying their best to educate the children of the community.

The positions that have the double astriks were the most influential in developing my character growth. Each involved face-to-face mediations that demanded realistic solutions. No academic program has, or will, exist that will ever be successful to resolve the issues that are facing everyone in education today. I have seen so many of these "good" ideas come, fail, and be replaced by another "better" idea. The result has been, unfortunately, a further decline in the ability of the infrastructures of the school systems to meet the mounting day-to-day challenges of today's complex society.

The key to finding solutions is in the day-to-day personal contacts that take place in the classroom, the office, and the board room. The individual attempts made to enhance a student's success is in the conversations that occur in these locations. These slices of life are powerful motivators of all involved individuals. The key to realizing success for all involved is knowing how the following underlying qualities affect the dynamics that take place in the above interchanges. They are: the principle of authority, the ability to empower individuals, and the proper understanding and use of grace and mercy. There are definitely more principles that operate in an educational system. The ones listed were those in which I have personally grown tremendously.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 14, 2015 13:59
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