1. What inspired you to run for a position on the school board?

I am a fifth generation Hood River County native and have devoted my adult life to serving our community. I attended HRC public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. While at HRVHS, I joined the Student Fire Firefighter Club and quickly realized a passion for service. After graduating in 2005, I served with the West Side Fire Department as a volunteer Firefighter and EMT. I have two children attending HRC Schools and I’m actively involved with PTO. My experience with the school district and dedication to service ultimately inspired me to seek involvement on a higher level.

2.What do you hope to bring to the school board?

My welcoming spirit and passion for helping others, my commitment to ongoing learning and improvement and belief in a positive growth mindset for all educational stakeholders, my transparent and honest communication whereupon I hold others accountable for integrity in action and word. I want to help all families feel supported in our district, help all students succeed in their academics, and empower and encourage the valuable educational staff in doing so.

3. What do you believe are the biggest issues faced by our schools and how do you plan to tackle them?

There is no doubt that the pandemic resulted in students struggling on multiple levels. We need to help guide positive social and emotional learning (SEL) environments for our students so that they may perform at their optimal level. As we empower schools to focus on SEL along with core content, we can help guide students to higher levels of academic achievement. We need to brainstorm, with all stakeholders, the best ways to help remediate and accelerate literacy and math learning to meet high academic standards for diverse needs. We need to set strategic, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely (SMART) goals.

4. Nationally, there are a lot of questions regarding the appropriateness of some curriculum. Do you have any concerns with the curriculum in our schools? If so, what are they?

Teaching critical thinking at developmentally appropriate levels helps students decipher the plethora of information and opinions they are exposed to online, in media, and in our communities, so they can respectfully work with others whose cultures and values may be different than their own, while knowing they have critical thinking resources to support their own points of view. Teaching respect, responsibility, caring, self-awareness, and self-regulation are important as well as literacy, math, social studies, and other content areas. Parents and guardians would benefit from ongoing communication about curriculum, so that they can assist students in learning outside of the classroom.