Position/philosophy statement
I will work hard to ensure our students have what they need to succeed daily. I will have an open-minded & fair approach to every circumstance we deal with while keeping the best for our students & staff in the forefront of those decisions.
Current Occupation
Insurance Agency Owner & Agent
Age (optional)
47
Campaign Phone
7044256623
My experience on the board since 2019 has brought me so much wisdom in what our students, staff, and community need from this role. I bring a knowledge of a past parent and community leader to the table for decision making.
To me the most important responsibility is to guide and oversee processes and procedures in the district. These processes and procedures play large roles in laying the foundation for our students and staff to succeed daily,
We need expand and update several of our schools due to growth in our town. This must be a priority for our district to be able to continue to serve every family. In addition to that our ability to continue to hire and retain great educators is key to our student success. Educators are getting harder and harder to find - likely partially due to the pay structure set by our state has in place. While we can't adjust the base pay structure, finding ways to fill our teacher roles with Great Educators can be a challenge but one that we must persevere through for our students.
First of all, we need to petition our state leaders to increase the pay scale of our teachers and get us to a scale that makes sense for the hours and work they pour into our schools and students daily. Additionally, we have already made great strides in our beginning teacher program to help new teachers get acclimated and have a more tenured mentor walking beside them on their new career.
Pre-Kindergarten is CRUCIAL for students in my opinion. Students who attend PreK gain a foundation to build on in Kindergarten. I am so proud of our McKnight Head Start Program in Kannapolis. Great things happen there not only for our students but their families as well. PreK is so much more than daycare - it is the foundation of education for students that in many cases they need to succeed.
Thank you for including me here and for the opportunity to share my thoughts for Kannapolis City Schools.
Position/philosophy statement
I will provide fair and open-minded leadership to make decisions while keeping what was best for the majority of students and staff in mind. In a disturbing atmosphere, where many highly-qualified persons choose to avoid the controversy of running fo
Current Occupation
Retired educator but currently working part-time as a substitute church organist and handbell director.
Age (optional)
72
Campaign Phone
7047916999
I have a Masters degree in Education (also Instructional Technology plus Curriculum and Instruction). I was a certified teacher for 27+ years. I taught elementary school (3 & 4th grades), taught teachers as a technology facilitator at the school level, worked as an educator on loan for the Department of Public Instruction (linking resources to the standard course of study on the DPI website), and finished my educational career as the Technology Director for Kannapolis City Schools, providing technology and instructional support to all staff. I have served eight years on the current Board of Education and found that my varied educational background has provided a different, but useful, view point for my colleagues.
Board of Education members have two major responsibilities. First is to set policies for the district that focus on the vision and mission of their school system. That includes approving the annual budget, approving updates to physical structures as needed, and monitoring curriculum decisions. We also have the responsibility to select and annually evaluate the superintendent, which we had to do this year when we hired Dr. Sara Newell.
With so much additional housing being built in the KCS school district area, a critical need is to have additional space for new students that move to Kannapolis. We added space onto Fred L. Wilson Elementary last year but A. L. Brown High School and Jackson Park Elementary still need immediate expansion. We have several certified positions that need qualified teachers, including media coordinators. We are considering ways to improve testing scores in reading, math, and science. Our new strategic plan includes excellent strategies for this. On the bright side, our CTE program is among one of the best in the state and our School Nutrition program has worked hard to keep costs down while food prices have escalated.
We have already been working on solutions for recruiting and retaining qualified teachers. We have an excellent Beginning Teachers program that provides professional development specific to the needs of new teachers. We also have central office staff and school-level coaches that provide guidance/leadership for teachers that want or need assistance. This year we awarded teachers that had five or more years of service with a longevity pin. It is a small token but was appreciated. Ultimately what teachers need is a livable salary from NC legislators. I will continue to lobby for this.
With so many low-income families in our district, it is imperative that we provide Pre-Kindergarten resources to those families. Our Head-Start program does an excellent job of preparing these children for kindergarten as well as providing growth opportunities for the entire family.
I thank the League of Women Voters for giving me this opportunity to let the Kannapolis City Schools families know more about me.
