What is your connection to the Tosa community?

About nine years ago, me and my husband and our three children, had been living on the south side of Milwaukee, and we wanted to find a place to live where our lives could be simplified a bit. I wanted my kids to have walking access to schools as well as community resources, libraries, stores, whatever, and looking around Wauwatosa it was just this perfect fit. We found a place where we could trust that our kids could walk to elementary school, middle school and high school, and we’ve been here ever since. I also have this connection as a parent of kids who’ve been going to the schools in Wauwatosa, and as just a neighbor in our community. We love it, you know, people just gather around each other and support each other in this area, it’s really positive. 

Why are you running for the school board?

My husband and I have been really satisfied with the experience that our kids have had in Wauwatosa schools. We know that people on the school board have worked hard over the past few years to really establish some policies and practices that support students, no matter what their backgrounds are, and we have really seen them advocating for safe learning environments for all, and that’s been something that’s been critical for our children’s mental health. Additionally, people have worked really hard on the board to establish some practices of examining our different curricular resources and disciplines to audit what the current status is and to find suggestions for moving our district forward. That work is really important, and I’m thankful for the work that people have done in the past, and I want to continue this great start. I want to ensure that work continues to move forward. Someone said that people were stepping down from the school board and asked if I would be interested, and with my kids being older now, and my life having a little more space for giving back to the community, this is something that I really want to be able to do.

What do you think the school board has been doing well with recently? 

A couple of things that have stood out to us is they’ve really held their ground in saying that they believe in the rights of all children to have safe and healthy experiences here. One way that they show that is by approving the adoption of the human growth and development curriculum. Additionally, I think that the practice of scheduling a regular rotation of disciplinary audits is something that is special to Wauwatosa. That is what allows us to keep a regular check on what is working well and what can continue to be strengthened.

What are going to be your first priorities if you get elected to the school board?

Top priority is always the academics. I know that while most people are having really satisfactory experiences, there are some who are not, and we need to figure out why they are unhappy, why some families are feeling that they’re being left out, and figure out how we include them and support them more.

What unique professional or personal perspectives will you bring to the board?

I’m an educator. I’ve been in public education for 25 years so I’m in classrooms every day. I work with teachers, administrators, and parents, so I have an insider’s view of the school experience, and I work from a perspective of knowing the realities of being inside schools and classrooms. I’m also an instructional coach now so I have a variety of experiences that help me understand school practices and systems.

What is something that you’ve accomplished within the past year that you are proud of?

Being an instructional coach right now is probably one of my biggest accomplishments. I get to work in this elementary school in another district where we have students who have a wide variety of needs and come from a very diverse background. Currently, in our school districts with multiple elementary schools, mine is one that is showing some of the strongest growth scores when you look at assessment measures. It’s the work that I’m doing alongside the other teachers where we get to impact student growth in such positive ways and that, to me, is my professional pride. 

How will you ensure students’ perspectives are represented on the school board.

One thing I know we do well in Wauwatosa is we do have students sitting on the school board meetings. The school board allows those representatives from east and west to have a voice in the conversations. That’s one piece. I think another piece is, as we move forward with making decisions as a school board, we’re regularly reaching out for feedback from different stakeholders in the community, teachers perspectives, and parents perspectives. I think an important part is to also ask for student perspectives. So if we’re looking at adapting a curricular resource, we can have teachers try that out and then ask students about what their thoughts were. Additionally, if we’re looking to establish some new practices before we go to a vote, students can be invited into listening sessions.

What are some fun facts about yourself?

I’m somebody who is never bored, because I have so many different activities I enjoy. Mostly, I just love being outside. I like biking, I go birding every chance that I can get. I love canoeing, fly fishing, and anything outside. My backyard is full of wildflowers, so in the summer, we get all these bees in our yard and I just like being out in the yard and watching bees go from flower to flower. You know, I love anything that just gets me outside to enjoy the natural world.