001our last panel of candidates features five individuals running for four open seats on the district 709 School Board consistent with how we've been doing it tonight we would like to give each candidate one minute to introduce himself or herself to the audience starting with Ashley fiser uh hi everyone my name is Ashley fiser and I am a pediat nutrition who has had the privilege to serve the children of Taswell County for the past 10 years uh I am deeply involved in community service and I serve on the partnership for a healthy community's uh mental health committee as well as their pediatric Obesity Action committee I am also greatly involved in the Greater Peoria children's mental health initiative and just this past year I was voted onto the birth to five Illinois District 53 Action Council
002I also started our first area's first reach out and read program and uh last year successfully expanded that across all of central Illinois and because of my community involvement I was invited to join the Illinois chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics reach out and read committee as well as their pediatric mental health committee I was also honored to be asked to be on their speakers Bureau which is a very select group of pediatrician that represent them in the media my husband and I have three young children eight five and three years old the oldest are very proud lady brown bear and we are members of Trinity Lutheran church thank you uh next CHR Christiana perie one minute to introduce yourself hello I am I am Christiana perie my husband and I have been married
003since 2008 uh we have four children one daughter and three boys ages 13 9 6 and three years uh I am a homemaker for our family our family moved to in 2016 we are not from this town and have no Morton ties in fact my family is relatively new to the United States my grandparents came over to this country through Ellis Island after they were liberated from Hitler's labor camps my father's first generation here as our half of my cousins I have lived in Illinois my entire life and we ultimately chose Morton because of the excellent schools and sense of community we have been welcomed with open arms and Morton and are so thankful for the kind wonderful people who live here it is such a testament to the community how many people who are
004raised in Morton and its surrounding communities to come back here to raise their own families we feel fortunate to call Morton home thank you our next candidate Wesley onur thank you uh Wes Ona sge and I've been fortunate to live in Morton uh the past 10 years prior to that I grew up in Southern Illinois and my family moved to mol my sophomore year of high school a graduate graduated from there and then moved on to IC then ISU where I majored in agriculture graduated with a bachelor's degree of Agriculture with a teaching certificate as well um from there I went and taught at the public schools for three years teaching high school and junior high students um agriculture as well as helping lead the FFA programs um after that well through that I want
005to say I did gain a lot of respect and appreciation for those that continue in the teaching field um and even those here in 709 which we greatly appreciate thank you time uh our next candidate is Jerry Rudd a little about me uh first off good evening uh I went to Limestone High School I played baseball there I graduated in 1985 and right after I joined the Air Guard um then was hired at the air guard uh as a full-timer in 1989 as a dual dual status Guardsman um while working for the guard I was activated for Desert Storm which then turned a desert shield and later on it was activated a couple other times to to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait uh the last 15 years of my career I um managed approximately 24 people
006um in different branches of the it field um I did retire in 2020 and right after I retired I decided to uh Run for the Morton school board and I've been serving on the Morton school board for the past four years uh married to my wife Angela um she supported me appreciate everything that she's doing we're a blended family of five um and all my kids went to Morton schools uh we had three wonderful grandchildren with with one more on the way we do attend Summit Point and lastly I just want everybody to understand contrary to social media I don't support hate of any type thank you and our final candidate Diane crawl good evening Morton uh my name is Diane crawl and I've enjoyed serving you on the school board the last four years
007I'm a family doctor I work in tront and I'm married to Kyle my husband we um we celebr celebrate 25 years pretty soon we have three kids one's a Morton High School grad one's a sophomore getting ready to drive and our youngest is a Grandy Gator um we live in Groveland and my husband grew up out at kennel lake so I'm proud to represent the unincorporated interest on the school board and I do understand the historical importance of that representation so good evening it's nice to be here thank you uh next we move to our questions each candidate will have two minutes to address the questions we'll start with candidate fiser what motivates you to serve on the school board and how have your past experiences and qualifications prepared you for this role so what
008motivates me is actually very simple uh I am a mother I am a mother of three amazing kids that are in this school district and I would do anything to protect them and when parents began coming to me with stories um about the intensity of some of the bullying that their children had experienced it was deeply unsettling to me and when I learned that the response from the administration had been pretty much nothing um I felt that maternal Instinct I felt very obligated not to turn a blind eye to that um and so I really pulled guidance from Proverbs 327 do not withhold good from those to whom it is due if it is in your power to do so so as a mom as a physician I knew I could help those kids I
009knew I could help those families and I felt then that I had a duty to do so so for six months I went to the school board and I uh asked them to collaborate with me and so that we could address these issues together I begged them and they refused to engage with me or the other community members that were bringing up um problems and that really left me with no choice but to run for the board myself if I wanted to help the most vulnerable children among us and I really believe that my extensive experience in treating all aspects of pediatric mental health including social and educational are going to be instrumental components in helping the Administration address the current pediatric Mental Health crisis my deep Community involvement has given me an extension an
010extensive network of Connections in education mental health and politics that I will leverage to bring new resources and new programs to our district My ultimate goal is to take our already exceptional schools make them safer make them more inclusive and more supportive so that every child has the opportunity to thrive thank you candidate perie what motivates you to serve on the school board and have how have your past experiences and qualifications prepared you for this role uh as a mother and Community member I have a deep commitment to ensuring our children receive the best possible education I understand the importance of providing our children with the tools and support they need to succeed academically and grow grow into responsible productive citizens my goal is to help shape policies that reflect the values of hard work
011respect and personal responsibility values that I believe are essential for every child's success I know how important it is for schools to have strong community support and I believe in the power of collaboration between parents teachers and school leaders to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed my background instilled in me a strong sense of appreciation ation for determination academic excellence and the importance of preparing students for Success beyond the classroom thank you candidate onur what motivates you to serve on the school board and how have your past experiences and qualifications prepared you for this role so in my introduction you may have noticed I didn't talk much about my family this question gives me a little more time to do that um my wife amaina and I have been married for over 15
012years and blessed with five children it comes with great challenges but we love it those kids we have are five of my motivators of why I'm running for school board but I want you to know that my children are not the only motivators for me your children are as well I have a love for others that drives me to serve others to the best of my ability I believe that all of our children deserve to have a safe fair and diverse education that offers opportunities to all of them I don't have a Morton last name as you may have had a hard time pronouncing it there are seven of us in the village of Morton and they all live in my house um but what I have noticed from living in this community is we've
013been embraced with love um and support in times when we've needed it I've also been blown away with the amount of times that I've seen the community come along other people that are in times of need and support them as well part of that continues to motivate me to make sure that that's the kind of community that we continue to be a part of um I have I have a desire to see every child in this town have support and help when they need it I was recently at the Grundy music program here in this Auditorium um and it was pretty amazing to me whenever they started to sing the third graders lean on me I don't know if any of you were here um but I want to read just a couple of those
014lyrics to you right now I'd sing them but you wouldn't like that so it says sometimes in our lives we all have pain we all have sorrow but if we are wise we know that there's always tomorrow Lean on Me When You're Not Strong and I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on my desire is that all those students that sing that song Thank you but your time is up thank appreciate that answer um Mr Rudd same question what motivates you to serve on the school board and how have your past experiences and qualifications prepared you for this role so what motivates me to sit on the school board is I have a drive to serve the public obviously I've been on for the last 35 years in the military and been on for
015four years on the mort Board of Education and I do feel like the current school board has done an excellent job of making decisions and uh taking care of all the kids and keeping the school district heading in the right direction the past four years are definitely prepared me for the next four years uh my past experiences and qualifications um include sitting as the current vice president on the school board and I understand how the board operates by working as a team to get to the best decision not by acting as the same mind but understanding what the district needs either by past decisions or by what current constituents expect a good board member should listen and have good conversations with other board members and with the administrators listening and understanding is the key to
016making good fact-based decisions um as previously mentioned mentioned I have worked in the military for the federal government for 35 years uh the last 15 as a manager um I've managed people and processes which have helped me become a good school board representative the military and federal government are closely related to how the school system works um I feel like my past and current experiences have prepared me for the next four years people have asked me why I run again well I believe that God has a plan for me and I feel his plans for me to to continue serving thank you and candidate crawl same question what motivates you to serve on the school board and how have your past experiences or qualifications prepared you for this role well first I'll answer the motivation
017part um God really used my tiny Hometown School District education to pull me out of a child Ood of abuse and poverty my superintendent and teachers all believed in me and no one there ever seemed to doubt that the oldest of four kids with a single mother had big hopes and dreams my little town gave me everything it had and it was enough and Jesus said that it's more blessed to give than to receive and so I want to give that blessing to other students um and not just have received that um I have a lot of experiences 14 years as a parent in this District I've walked with my son through IEP my daughter through her 504 um through the gifted programs I've seen firsthand the strengths and weaknesses of our schools but I
018believe they're solid and an asset and I think that I have been given strengths that make me um qualify to do a really good job at this um especially because my job is listening to people and their concerns and trying to work through long-term Solutions of complex ideas and opinions and barriers to plan ways forward and so um I have really enjoyed doing that the last four years and I'm asking for the opportunity to do it again thank you our second question will first be addressed to miss pie or candidate pie the National School Board Association States the most important responsibility of school boards is to work with their communities to improve student achievement how will you create policies that ensure academic success for all students as a member of the school board I believe
019in creating policies that prioritize academic discipline and a commitment to Traditional Values and educ ation I strongly believe that parents are the first and most important educators of their children I encourage and support parental involvement and their children's education by allowing a healthy relationship between our schools and families we can ensure that students receive consistent support at home and in the classroom thank you uh candidate Ona zorge I'll shorten the question a little bit just to read the last part of it how will you create policies that Ure academic success for all students uh the Morton school district has a long reputation of academic Excellence the average SAT score in 2024 for the districts were much higher than the state average also found that the graduation rate in the district has typically been in the
020mid to uper 90 percentiles these reasons and many others are likely why many of you are here in this community now I believe that we have outstanding teachers support staff and administrators in District 709 I believe that they are currently doing a great job ensuring that all students have the opportunity to achieve academic success but as with all organizations there's always room for improvement and we can continue to increase that degree of Excellence I believe some of my experiences and passions will help ensure that we continue that tradition of Excellence as well as consider each policy and how there may be some shortcomings that don't ensure the academic success of all students the mental health of our students has to continue to be a high priority as we continue to see the anxiety and depression
021of Youth increase in an alarming rate one thing that my wife and I have really appreciated is the counseling connection from the counseling department one of the helpful resources that they shared was the book anxious generation which spurred on a lot of conversation as it pertains to phone usage and social media within our family I would love to continue to see more resources available for our students and our parents I'm excited to look at all of our facilities as well consider how we make continue to use the space we have now most efficiently as well as help to prepare and plan future projects I believe that my facility management experience can be helpful with this thank you very much candidate Rudd same question how will you create policies that ensure academic success for all students
022well I think it should be known that as stated in the board member oath of office prescribed by the school code a board member has no legal author as an individual um policies are voted upon as a majority one of the big policies we voted on from the past four years is policy 682 which is parents rights and role the teacher the corent board has current uh continually pursued local control over our schools some of what we encountered over the past four years are mask mandates control over our curriculum and recently Vision 2030 some initiatives of what have sent from the state are good and some initiatives don't agree with what our community expects from the high standards of 709 the current board will not support policies curriculum or instruction that seek to indoctrinate children
023or infringe upon our parents' rights and I'm hoping the next board feels the same way again we want parents to have the freedom to make important choices for their children and we also want an optout policy when the state required curriculum doesn't align with parents values the board of education is foced on focused on the district's anti-bullying policy specifically bi policy 720 and 7180 reviewing them and discussing them at meetings the district has maintained 24-hour hotline for students and family members publishing the number on student IDs and the district website uh The District in 2023 provided teachers and staff with a nationally recognized expert expert to provide Education and Training on bullying prevention and management the report presented by Dr teer on October 29th 2024 is an excellent reference I think you all should go
024back and uh revisit that to specifically answer the question policies created or updated in the past four years has supported academic success and have emphasis on social emotional Wellness being uh with parental freedoms keeping control locally in our district and policies in the next four years should emulate what is currently in in place and are in progress thank you candidate crawl how will you create policies that ensure academic success for all students well I thank Mr red for um recognizing the school School Board we have a wonderful school district and we have to keep getting better at the very most important things and so um as a school board it's our job to hire a wonderful superintendent and then our job as I've learned from veterans on the board is to keep asking for specific
025accountability from our administrators and staff how are you using our resources on mission for academic growth for all students um one thing that's awesome about our district is that we use a lot of um hard numbers to judge if we're doing things well and so I really want to keep using that evidence to make our policies and decide what needs to be revamped in what needs to change um I also agree that we need to keep our key stake holders at the table and for the current Board of Education that's our parents that's what makes Morton schools great all of our parent Volunteers in the schools helping donating we have to make sure that we invite parents in that all of our policies are parent friendly for the majority of students their parents are their
026biggest resources and so we don't want our school district to do what our great parents are already doing we want our school districts to bring the best professionals the best philosophies and then partner with our parents so that every kid's education's better even if their parent isn't in the schools parents in the schools still make their experience better we're neighbors and we help each other and that's really important when we're looking at policies does this support more thank you your time is up and candidate Fisher how will you create policies that ensure academic success for all students so I am actually so glad that this question invoked the National School Board Association um because the official resolution document from the most recent nbsa delegate assembly stipulated that their number one priority number one student health
027and well and mental well-being so focusing on school safety crime prevention and supporting students emotional and social needs the official nsba resolutions supports my platforms not my opponents I encourage all of you to re review the document yourself on nsp.org if you go to the menu and you put who we are and you get click on resolutions beliefs and bylaws you'll be able to download that document I have been consistently advocating for programs to address the bullying issues in our district now for over a year including an anonymous reporting system that is proven with scientific stud studies to save student lives and prevent school shootings not only that it is completely free for our district to implement unfortunately the current board has repeatedly rejected even hearing about the program otherwise Mr W would know that
028the current program we have is not being taught to the students which is why on the last report we had guess how many reports one from an East Poria student about a Mor student our students don't know about the program that Pro because they refuse to do an assembly to teach them about it they also do not give us data that will allow us to track what exactly are the issues we need to address in our school I am committed to taking real action to address bullying in the schools and end the culture of retaliation our students deserve a safe environment where they can focus on what truly matters thriving academically emotionally and socially and you will find that my position is fully congruent with the official resolutions of the National School Board Association thank
029you our third question will be addressed to uh candidate number three in the line here Mr or candidate onisor it's a long question so please listen closely I'll be abbreviating it for the benefit of the others who follow the mission of Unit School District 709 is to serve the Groveland Morton Community by stimulating a desire for lifelong learning graduating productive individuals and challenging all to achieve their highest potentials as active participants and leaders in a d Dynamic Global Society how will you support the superintendent in achieving this goal for all students well I'm excited to learn more about our current trade programs in the district uh this is an area that I believe I can help bring some insight to we can help to meet the needs of a diverse group of students and make
030sure that they are seeing opportunities for their future while also getting hands-on experience in the classrooms I was excited to learn that in 2023 the district added f fa under the district initiative of future Readiness programming teaching Agriculture and Shop classes for three years helped me to see that some students May Thrive more in non-traditional classroom settings and we need to make sure that we are preparing them to be productive individuals my mom would be the first one to tell you that there were times in my education that I was less than interested in what was going on in the classroom I know that I am not alone in this and I would like to see District 709 continue to grow the co-op and work-based learning program uh these trades and skills are very practical
031and teach many life lessons along the way there are many organizations in our community as well that would benefit from these co-ops that would continue to help the community thank you uh Mr uh candidate Rudd how would you support the superintendent in achieving The Unit School District 709 goal for all students well developing a relationship with the superintendent is the first step the next step is toensure to ensure the superintendent has the same goals for the students as the community with the understanding that goals aren't the same for every student such as some students go to college where others might dve into the military and others may join the workforce however I think we can all agree that a desire for lifelong learning and graduating productive individuals are the goals that unite our district part
032of the school board's responsibility is to delegate Authority and other words we take a balcony view we don't get in and to the weeds uh trust with accountability by monitoring performance is a good way to look at what the board does policy 615 is a good reference for how the school board trusts the superintendent yet holds him accountable through the state's school report card another way is to communicate with with the superintendent as often as possible and let him know uh what our community is thinking the Third Way is understanding policy 2130 um That's essential in supporting the board superintendent relationship ultimately the relationship between the board and superintendent is based on mutual respect ECT the superintendent is effectively the CEO of the school district and leads the district to ensure that staff students are
033successful the school board holds the superintendent responsible for upholding federal state and local laws in conjunction with local policies relationship building and communication is the answer in supporting the superintendent to help all of our kids to achieve to achieve this District goals the motto of the board is to teach the kids how to think but not what to think thank you candidate crawl how will you support the superintendent in achieving this stated goal for all students by helping him and everyone else on the board remember this Mission um if we as a school district get off Mission and we don't teach academic excellence and focus on what are the barriers that are keeping us from improving then we're going to not provide what we are now and we all want to just get better at
034what we're doing now I disagree with that statement that we have a culture of retaliation in our district that is a lie we have a culture of trust since I have been on the board we have almost doubled the number of counselors at our Junior High and our senior high we also have trained our teachers specifically in mental health issues because we know that it matters and that it makes a difference last year in our district we had a dramatic drop in the number of students who were admitted to the to the mental word of our Hospital locally we keep track of that as a district that is a marker of what can we do to help our kids before that crisis point and we're doing that and then our kids don't need to utilize
035an anonymous Reporting System they have trusted adults that they know and can go to and then we have those safeties for those outliers that don't have that because we want every level to be good but we believe Morton Can Do It Best in person face to face with people with the same values who love our kids thank you candidate fiser how will you support the superintendent in achieving this stated goal for all students so one of the biggest reasons I actually became a doctor is because I love science and I love research and I love the concept that I will be learning new things for the rest of my life uh I started the reach out and read program which is a literacy program that is meant to uh help support the development of language
036skills in young children because I recogniz the importance of early childhood learning I am also an assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and I regularly lecture for Community programs such as Bradley University's lifelong learning program which provides learning opportunities for individuals 50 years and older um so while I have some experience with teaching I fully recognize that the expertise of teaching belongs with the teachers which is why I have been supporting those teachers and I have been picking with those teachers and trying to get them the cost of living rate is that the board denied them for 5 months forcing them to go into Federal mediation I've put my money where my mouth is and actually supported the teachers I believe strongly that Dynamic ecosystems like schools will Thrive most when
037there's effective collaboration between contributors so through the greater peia Children's Mental Health Initiative I've been fortunate to collaborate with teachers administrations psychologists social workers Community Advocates all working towards one goal revolutionizing How We Do pediatric Mental Health Care here in Illinois I've seen how effective that coll collaboration is which is why for over a year and a half I have remained steadfast in publicly advocating for on the importance of collaboration between 709 teachers Administration community members and board members while the incumbent members have not prioritized genuinely listening to this community I am fully committed to ensuring all 709 community members feel seen heard and valued thank you and candidate perie how will you support the superintendent in achieving this stated goal for all students as a member of the school board I would fully support
038the mission of 709 I will work with the superintendent to ensure all students are held to high academic standards with a strong focus on the basics like Reading Writing math and core subjects teachers and staff are the backbone of our educational system and I will work to support the superintendent in ensuring that teachers and staff continue to have the resources and train training to eff effectively educate our students thank you our final question for our panel is this and we'll begin with Mr Rudd candidate Rudd how will you balance representing the needs of the entire Community while ensuring that personal beliefs or agendas do not overshadow the best interest of all students and families well I feel like the school uh board member should know the oath of the school board and what school boards
039are supposed to do to effectively ensure personal beliefs or agendas won't overshadow the interest of all students and families again a board member has no legal Authority as an individual one of the ways personal beliefs aren't in the mix of the uh uh best interest of students and families is to hire the right superintendent um while I've been part of the Morton School Board past four years we've hired two excellent superintendents one of which will officially start July 1st of this year our current superintendent's goals were to ensure social emot wellbeing of our kids to help promote academic achievement the board has added District employed mental health professionals at the Junior High in high school as Dr carw has already mentioned to support our kids specifically we added the director of student staff Wellness to
040supervise the priorities of Wellness for our staff and students during the last few years a District's social work and psychology staff have been organized under the specific new Department by the way that's what helped with that uh the book that we were talking about earlier uh the superintendent is responsible for ensuring the vision of the district is recognized nowhere in the vision does it say to use personal beliefs or agendas to accomplish the Mi Mission finally the board member oath and conduct under policy 280 says as part of the Board of Education I shall accept the responsibility from my role in Equitable and quality education of every student in the school district I'd like to emphasize the word every and every student student in the school district I think our village needs to understand our
041school teach teachers staff administrators and Board of Education include every student for every meeting that we have in the Equitable and quality education I personally moved to Morton we personally moved to Morton in 99 um for the school district and I just love it here and I hope that the rest of you do that as well um and I want our school district to stay the way that it is so thanks for your time this evening and thanks for listening thank you candidate crawl how will you balance representing the needs of the entire Community while ensuring that personal beliefs or agendas do not overshadow the best interest of all students and families as I pondered this really tough question I decided that it's really just asking how will I be wise if I'm back on
042the Schoolboard the next four years and James chapter 3 in the Bible describes the kind of wisdom that I pursue it tells me to be meek pure in character Peaceable gentle open to reason full of Mercy impartial and sincere then if I can do those things I'll make wise decisions so why would I think of those words when the competing interests Collide in a Schoolboard level because of the promise at the end of that passage it says a harvest of justice and righteousness is swn in Peace by those who make peace as your school board member I will work for wisdom and peace to turn competing interests into cooperating interests because all of our energy together will do so much more than if we turn it against each other thank you candidate fiser how will
043you balance representing the needs of the entire Community while while ensuring that personal beliefs or agendas do not overshadow the best interest of all students and families so part of that is actually talking to the social workers and the counselors in the school which I have done and um getting an idea of where their biggest barriers are and one of the biggest barriers that theyve shared with me is there's a lot of regulations coming down from the state which I recognize that have to get placed on someone and a lot of times it's placed on the counselors which means they no longer have the time to do the thing they want to do which is counsel our students which is why I've proposed implementing the iris system which is a referral Network for social um
044for social organizations you can find out more about this on my website and my policies to help those counselors uh a number of people in our community also don't have children but the connection we all share is that we all pay taxes right and part of representing the entire Community is making sure that those taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly so sadly the current School Board did not take that responsibility very seriously and they negligently threw away $1.6 million of your hard-earned tax money I am committed to community engagement and transparency and I will ensure that you as a taxpayer know exactly where each of your dollars is spent because education is not just an investment in our children it's also an investment in our community and I have spent my entire life advocating for children
045the most vulnerable Among Us my commitment is to serve the entire Community by continuing to make children the number one thing to prioritize their safety their mental health and their education I believe that when we put children first we build a healthier stronger future for everyone and I'm not going to ever stop fighting so that every child in our district gets the future they deserve thank you candidate perie how will you balance representing the needs of the entire Community while ensuring that personal beliefs or agendas do not overshadow the best interest of all students and families we live in a time where certain people believe the line is blurred between males and females people in our country fought for years for females to have the same access and opportunity that male counterparts had within a
046short time many of those same people who fought so hard for those rights now advocate for biological males to be allowed in girl spaces with the 2024 election majority of people rejected these ideas however we currently have an individual trying to fill a school board seat who supports these ideals where biological males should be allowed to participate in girls Sports use girls bathrooms and so on as stated in a letter Ashley fiser wrote We obtained via Freedom of Information Act or Foya further she lied on company letterhead and had falsely and falsely threatened litigation against the school School District if they did not Implement her directives this is dangerous for our community and our school district and will not be tolerated I am prepared to serve with a clear principled per perspective I am motivated
047by the desire to contribute to an educational system that upholds Traditional Values Fosters academic achievement and prepares our children to be responsible capable leaders I am committed to working alongside fellow board members to ensure our schools remain a place where every child has the opportunity to reach their Highest Potential I pledge to fairly govern over all students regardless of what category they or society places them in I am committed to keep Morton schools going in the right direction thank you and finally Mr onor candidate onor how will you balance representing the needs of the entire Community while ensuring that personal beliefs or agendas do not overshadow the best interest of all students and families when my beliefs in my biblical worldview help shape me to the person that I am today at our house we
048recently purchased a new dining room table and at the end of it we decided to engrave part of a verse in it we had them engrave love your neighbor comes from Mark 12:3 and 31 our desire and our home and in all aspects of our life is to love those around us often we're able to do that by having people over to our home and blessing them with the meal and encouraging them in some way another way that I believe we live that out is by not tolerating bullying regardless of our differences when I was younger I was bullied thankfully I had a strong support system at home but I remember struggling with school I remember wishing that people would be more kind and not pick on me fast forward to now I believe that
049much of that experience Made Me Stronger and gave me compassion for others that are mistreated I still don't wish that on anyone but I'm thankful for the man that it helped me become I share this with you to hopefully give you confidence to know that I will stand up for all students in our district whether it is at home with my kids or at my job or other leadership roles I try to look to the interest of others whether I'm addressing something with my four-year-old son a 13-year-old son one of my staff members or a 90-year-old resident they all share the desire to be listened to to be treated fairly and they want to know that we care we are blessed in this district with so many teachers and staff that model that very well
050a large part of my agenda is that all students have the opportunity to be successful in District 709 and that they will be treated with love and respect along the way no matter what differences they have I believe that if we don't aim for that then we have failed our community thank you very much this concludes the questions for this panel five candidates for four open seats for the school board 709 this also concludes our program for this evening thank you for attending very much and thank you to all our candidates to