+ Why are you running for School Board?

I grew up in Corvallis and graduated from Corvallis K-12 Public Schools. After living in several other states for school, work, and the military, my husband and I returned to Corvallis in 2016 to be close to family again and to raise our daughter here. My professional career has been dedicated to supporting the well-being of children, youth, educators and families. I have been an early childhood teacher, a parenting educator, a researcher who has developed social and emotional learning programs, and now I am a professor at Oregon State University, serving as the coordinator for the Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative - a statewide system of support for families and professionals. These experiences have given me an opportunity to work across all levels of the educational system; I have worked with educators, administrators, families, and community partners; I have experience evaluating programs and collecting and analyzing data; and experience with multi-million dollar budgets. As I reflected on how I could best give back to the community, serving as a School Board member stood out as a way to use these experiences and skills to support the community I love and call home.

+ What special strengths do you believe you would bring to the board?

Strengths I believe would help me serve as an effective member of the School Board include:

• Significant knowledge of child and youth development related to social-emotional learning and academic achievement;
• Experience working with children of all ages as well as educators and administrators at all grade levels;
• Ability to build relationships across teams of practitioners, researchers, funders, policymakers, and families from diverse backgrounds;
• Expertise associated with developing effective metrics and using data and research to inform practice and policy (while also recognizing the limitations of these approaches);
• Practice communicating statistics and data to broad audiences;
• Experience building partnerships across community and state systems and supporting systems-level change and policymaking at the state level;
• Management of multimillion dollar budgets;
• A commitment to equity through a trauma-informed and anti-racist perspective;
• Dedication to personal and professional learning and growth; and
• Experience making informed decisions based on research as well as identified community needs.

+ What is your experience with K-12 education?

Over the last 20+ years, my professional experiences have given me the opportunity to work within and in partnership with school systems – as an early childhood teacher, a parenting educator, a systems leader, and a researcher focused on developing and evaluating social and emotional learning programs in school settings. I have developed and delivered professional develop workshops and trainings for educators at all grade levels related to social and emotional skills and the intersection between these skills and academic learning with an equity-focused and trauma-informed perspective.

+ What is your experience with K-12 education in Corvallis?

Corvallis is a community that I care deeply about. I grew up in Corvallis and was a student in the Corvallis K-12 public school system (Bessie Coleman Elementary, 1984-1990; Highland View Middle School, 1990-1993; Crescent Valley High School, 1993-1997). I am now a district parent and aunt. I have engaged with the school system as a parent, a volunteer (e.g., speaking to students at the invitation from staff on emotional well-being/managing stress; supporting workshops for Katherine Jones Harrison PTA), and in my professional role (e.g., providing workshops for educators on self-regulation/social-emotional skills for the summer kindergarten readiness program).

+ How have you worked to uplift the voices of young people in your personal, professional, or elected experience? (From NextUp)

We have so much to learn from the young people in our lives, if we would only listen, learn, and then amplify their voices. Youth have a perspective that many adults do not hold. As adults, we have a tendency to take a longer/slower view of progress and change. Youth brains are in a state of development where they can think more creatively and flexibly than adult brains. In addition, they are more likely to identify injustice (and not fall into the habit of believing something is okay just because it has always been that way). Youth are more likely than adults to take risks, which is needed for creative short and long-term solutions to address inequities, disparities, and injustices. As a School Board member, our work focuses on long-term goals and policies that often take months and years to make a difference. Centering youth perspective reminds us that what students need is change now. When a challenge arises, putting policies in place to impact future students is important, but students also need to enter school tomorrow and know they will be affirmed, safe, challenged (in good ways), and able to go to the bathroom in a way that aligns with their gender identity-not next year-NOW. As a lifelong educator, I love spending time with and learning from children and youth. As a School Board member, I have been actively engaged in supporting student representatives to the board and spending time with students (e.g., visiting clubs, classrooms, and leadership/affinity spaces). If reelected, I plan to continue expanding the ways that the School Board is accessible to and connected with students through enhancing communication between the board and students; engaging in student listening sessions; encouraging policy decisions to undergo student review; and many other approaches.

+ How have you engaged with your local schools? What are your top accomplishments? (from Stand for Children; 150 word limit)

Over the past four years, I have volunteered in our school district as a School Board member and in additional ways, (e.g., playing piano for one of the middle school choirs). My primary accomplishments as a volunteer are the relationships fostered through connection with students, families, district staff, and community members. I serve as one of the Board liaisons for Students Advocating for Equity clubs; I am a mentor for student representatives on the board; and I serve as a board liaison with our district’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. Through these relationship-building opportunities, I have learned directly from students, staff, and community members how district policies and programs impact their daily lives. These experiences have helped me be a better advocate to support meaningful change and for the importance of community-engaged processes in the development of our district goals, policies, and programs.

+ What are the most important qualities of a great school board member? How do you see yourself working with current school board members and the Superintendent? (from Stand for Children; 150 word limit)

I believe the most important qualities of a great school board member are ability to be a good listener, dedication to learning and growth, humility, a desire to do the work well (rather than “right”), collaboration, perseverance, and patience. Over the past four years, I have valued our district’s collaborative relationship among School Board members as well as between the School Board and our district Superintendent. We each bring different experiences and perspectives to our roles and hold relationships with different people and communities. Our individual and collective approach has been to listen to and learn from one another; discuss issues with openness, curiosity, and care; and make decisions grounded in community-engagement and with guidance from the Superintendent. If re-elected, I look forward to continuing to build on the strength of this collaborative approach as we also increase community-engagement to inform district budget decisions and policies.