001My name is Lisa Christiansen. I've lived in Fairport for 12 years with my husband and our four kids. And professionally, I'm an early childhood speech-language pathologist. So, something about me that tells you who I am and why I'm running is I'm kind of a chronic volunteer. So, this is my third year on board volunteering here. And then my 12th year volunteering as an Odyssey of the Mind coach and my fifth year volunteering for the regional youth committee for my church's youth program. I also volunteer in a variety of other places like the PTA and I've been on PTA boards in the past. And the reason I do that really is that I truly feel it takes a village and if I want a village, I have to be a villager. And so, I like to
002give back to things I care about by volunteering my time and I really care about the school and our community's children. >> I'm Erica Bale's Pacer and I'm an educator, parent, and a proud member of the Fairport community. I've had the privilege of serving on the board for the past six years, two years as vice president and three years as the president. I'm running for re-election because I want to continue supporting our students, staff, and families during an important time of change in our community, which includes the consolidation of Minerva into the high school and the adjustments with the school start times. I understand of course that change can be challenging. We've put a lot of time and conversation into assisting with these changes and I'm committed to listening to everyone as I have in
003the past. And I just want to ensure that it remains on track and the best for what is for students. >> Hello everyone, I'm Peter Foresgren and after a two-year break, I'm running to serve on the school Fairport school board. More on the why in a little bit, but who am I? My wife and I, we've now lived in this community for almost 25 years, and at this point we can say that all five of our children are Fairport High School graduates. We cannot be more proud at how they have launched, how well they are doing, and at the same time we couldn't be more grateful of how well they launched because of the education that they received. We love the community here that we live in. It has been awesome, and we know that
004an important part of its attractiveness to those who stay and those who want to move into the area is the quality of the schools. And that's one of the reasons, that's the main reason. Run, continue it, let the next generation of children experience that which my children have. >> Um so, like I said, I have experience working with students from birth all the way through 12th grade, um a variety of strengths, a variety of needs. So, that's definitely high interest and compelling why for me, um as well as my love for volunteering. So, um to flip that a little bit though, a compelling sort of why me, like a lot of people have that kind of interest and background, um I think that I have a unique ability and interest in asking the hard questions
005of questions, but asking hard questions and also doing that with a spirit of um compromise and collaboration. So, even though it might get us into some contentious topics, I'm not seeking contention, I'm seeking consensus, and I think in this world that ability to to walk that line of asking hard questions, but coming at it um in a conciliatory way is something that's needed and something that's unique to me. >> But, my compelling why for running for the board uh really comes from both my professional and my personal experiences. Um Um, my life, I never really fit into one category, whether it was with friend groups, sports, clubs, or interests in schools. I was fortunate to grow up in a family where I had, um, lots of support and exposure to many types of different people,
006experiences, opportunities that taught me that early on that having belonging, inclusion, and having a chance to explore your various strengths is key. Uh, later as a teacher, I had the opportunity to work with many students from different countries and with students from varying, um, abilities. I was able to collaborate and team teach, and those experiences really helped me understand that each student learns differently, and having those opportunities to grow and succeed is important. So, I also have three children, they probably know. Uh, they are all very different within each other. Uh, two of my children had IEPs going through school, one did not, and they participated in a variety of different things. So, their educational journeys looked very different, and I wanted to ensure that they all had the same options, um, not just, you
007know, because they may have been in an accelerated program, they had the specific experience. Or if they were in a special ed program, maybe they didn't get reading instruction. So, my why is making sure that all students within our classes have the same access to high-quality education and experiences within, um, the school day and outside. So, that would include sports and clubs and other activities after school. >> My compelling why. I think this will be repetitive for anyone who may have followed me over the years, even going back as far as 2012, but free public education has been a boon to this country. I love it, I feel strongly about it, but that's at the highest level. It applies individually as well. A good education is important for every person, for each child, every child.
008Education, though, is more than about rote memorization of facts and figures. It's about creativity, becoming critical thinkers. It's about having safe spaces to try, to fail, to try again. And that is something that Fairport School District, I think, does really well. Children being seen, being loved, being cared for. And that is not by accident. The culture that we have here is not by accident. But if it's not a conscientious effort that we make in every decision, then we can lose that. And so, my compelling why is that we continue to offer free and universal education for every child in our community, but that we do it well and do it in ways that is exciting and meaningful, impactful for every child. >> Um so, in the district, any anything that's accomplished is really a team
009effort and collaborative. So, um it's not I don't think there's anything that I could just say this happened completely because of me. Um but of course, we all have our issues that we advocate for, that we're particularly interested in. Um one that comes to mind for me is the changes to the advanced math and science placement process, especially in the middle schools. So, um when I came onto the board, that looked like um going from fifth to sixth grade, students are recommended for the advanced track, the accelerated track, or the standard track. And then they're basically on that track for the rest of their time through the educational system, and that's really early to set a child on that track. And there were some ways to cross tracks, but it was really like you had
010to know how to make that happen, and you had to know the right people, and then you had to have the resources to get private tutoring for your student um to be able to make that jump. And um it's something that I've brought up a number of times, and I've been really happy to see the district make that change to where now the that split still happens at the same time, but there are multiple on-ramps for students to be able to get there. There's district-provided resources for them to be able to get the support they need to make that jump, and the communication um is much more universal, and so you don't have to be in the know to be able to get your student the challenge and the rigor that they need, and it's
011open to all students, whether they're late bloomers or early bloomers, and there's district support for that. >> Uh so, this is a really difficult question to answer um because advocacy really is never accomplished by one person. Uh we've done a lot of different things over the 6 years that I've been here, and it's not just me. I feel like accomplishments have been across the board with staff members, with our administration, with other board members. So, I am part of the Monroe County Legislative Committee, and I have been since I joined the board. Um I have the opportunity to work alongside with representatives from across the county um on other school boards. We also get to meet with our reps at the state level and federal level um throughout the year. So, together we advocate for
012issues um that impact all districts, such as foundation aid, increased funding for UPK, universal meals, and I have had that option doing it with Brian and Joyce prior to Brian. So, the two of us um have continued to do that. Another thing that we've focused on here is meeting with our local reps, um whether it's two of us and the superintendent or maybe one of us and the superintendent, and we have secured additional funding that goes towards um training for the science of reading. Additionally, at the um district level, uh again, really hard to choose one accomplishment because it is always a team effort. Uh one area I felt really strongly about when I joined the board was establishing a consistent reading program across all of our elementary schools. Uh I actually have a literacy
013degree, which um I kind of joke now that it would not work right now. Uh the way I was trained to teach children to read is very different than the science of reading and what we are doing now. And as I mentioned before, when my kids were in school, they all had different um experiences. So, I pushed hard to make sure that we had accessible and equitable practices across the building and across all of our schools. Uh so, I know that it was a hard lift. Very challenging for many of our teachers, I'm sure, but I really appreciate the effort that everybody put into it, and we are seeing, you know, the success with the data when we look at it and how our students are learning to read. Uh additionally, another thing that I
014felt really strongly about was um having SPARK across all of our elementary schools. I had two children that participated in Odyssey of the Mind, and it has a lot of the same um components as the SPARK lab does, but it was only at one school and my students were there. So, uh you know, it was more of an enrichment activity at the schools my kids were at. So, having access across all of the schools to SPARK, I felt was huge. Um it wasn't just for kids that would be considered um gifted. So, excited about that. Another big thing that I'm proud of and advocated for was continuing of long-term projects. It feels like we've done a lot since I've been here with construction and with capital improvement projects, as you can probably see. Um so,
015one of those things would be Minerva. Uh this was talked about long before I joined the board, but continuing the process of consolidation and supporting the staff and students as we made that change is definitely something that I pushed hard for. Listening to what people needed in terms of packing the rooms, planning the move, was definitely um something important to all of us. So, uh you know, right now, we have a lot going on. So, I'm hoping that uh I can continue with my uh listening to all perspectives, staying calm, and moving forward with all the projects we're doing. >> When I first ran for the school board back in 2012, the main thing I believe I brought up was having good long-term plans that 3, 5, and 10 years. It's challenging to do, and
016it took a while, but we got there. I felt like we got there. We got there financially to say we think we can can take control of our future through the ups and the downs, and currently kind of one of those down and challenging areas. But, we saw that with facilities and facilities plans, and as we created that and get our buildings and grounds up to where they should be, able to have a long-term plan that continues to maintain them and and alter them as needed as education, the environment, and technology changes. That was the one thing that really had to happen, I think, and did, and grateful for it, and needs to continue. But, in all honesty and advocacy, which is done behind the scenes, not necessarily done in Albany, yet perhaps is done
017in Albany when we look for financial resources, is advocating for the personnel. Think about our personnel, the buildings and grounds people, our transportation, food services, the paras, the teachers, and I hate making lists cuz I just left out somebody. Right? But, don't want to leave out anybody, and please know I don't mean to leave you out. But, advocating for you because if a child feels seen, if a child knows that they have a caring adult that they can go to, if a child has the opportunity to experiment, to grow, to feel safe, if they first experience they have is with a loving school bus driver as they get on the bus, then we're using our financial resources well. And that's been my favorite point of advocacy is for personnel. As a school board member though,
018that butts up against our financial resources. And so, maintaining a strong financial position is always important so that we can maintain high-quality personnel in every position that we have. I want people to love working here because when you love working here, the children benefit. They know that you love it, they feel it, and they're able to perform well because of it.