I Pledge

To Be Professional at All Times; To Be of Service

Public servants are accountable to their community members and responsible for representing their needs and wants. I pledge to perform this role in the most professional and upstanding way possible. Small town politics can be dirty, back-handed, and distrustful. There will be no question what my intentions are, what my actions are, and whom I serve. There is no power struggle or back door handshakes here, only serving the entire community to the best of my abilities. If you know me or have worked with me in the past, this has always been true. This seat is a position of service, not power.

To Be Active in My Support; To Be an Ambassador

To be effective in representing the students, educators, administration, and support personnel in our school system, it is imperative that our board members have their hand on the heartbeat of the system: the people. I pledge to be active in my support. Facilitating open, honest, and consistent dialogue within our system promotes trust in our relationships and identifies problems and solutions more quickly. I pledge to make visiting the school sites in Ward 5 a regular practice and engaging in meaningful activities and conversations a top priority.

To Donate My Board Member Salary

We all know funding is an issue at all times in the public school system, and it is one of the school board's chief purposes to oversee and manage. To do a small part, I pledge to round the $9,700.00 I would be allocated in salary per year up to $10,000.00 and donate that sum back to the community in the form of student scholarships, teacher awards, student achievement awards, and disbursements based on applications submitted by school personnel.

To Call on Leaders in Our Community for Collaboration

Small town communities, in my opinion, are the easiest to rally, improve, and collaborate with to work for a better future. I pledge to call on our community leaders, mentors, business owners, religious leaders, counselors, associations, and clubs to work together. Community events that invite and involve all members foster a culture of togetherness and success. This only works if all members of the community are good neighbors and help each other identify problems and work together to find and execute solutions. Our children, schools, and educators will benefit. It's time to get out from behind a keyboard, from behind a veil of hate, misinformation, misunderstanding, and separation. We must work together as one community, celebrate our differences, and recognize our similarities.

To Be a Resource and To Seek Out the Best Minds

Too often people are reluctant to admit when they are wrong or concede to someone who has a better solution or idea. I am the first to admit that I am not always the best person to answer a question, but I will do all I can to be open in my research and thorough in my analysis of other viewpoints, opinions, ideas, and solutions. The goal is to make the best decisions possible for our children and educators to be as successful as they can. My leadership, team building, mentorship, financial analysis, and systems orientated skillset will benefit the district.

We must also seek out the best of the best to be a part of our system and community. Potential teaching and administration candidates, especially in this time, want to be a part of a great culture. They want to feel like they are a part of something great and that their supporters, school board, and community are behind them and are all working toward the same goals. Recruiting talented and passionate teachers and administrators is harder than it's ever been. We can't hope to be successful in facilitating that culture without reevaluating our systems and processes.