001thank you candidates for serving the community and public education and for participating in West Valley's 8th Annual local government candidate Forum thank you also to the hundreds of students who wrote and submitted questions and the student committee who selected these questions please practice civil discourse in all comments one of the district's core values is embodying respect for the diversity and dignity of all Facebook comments that violate these core values will be deleted audience members please also follow civil discourse and respectful audience Behavior each candidate has one minute for an opening statement and then we will move on to the questions after each student asks their question each candidate will have 45 seconds to respond the order of candidates responding will rotate after the third and fifth questions we will have lightning rounds in which candidates
002respond by holding up a sign that say yes or no we will now go to opening statements the order of opening statements will begin in the way the official ballot reads we will begin with seat C candidate Les Nichols good morning I'm I'm super excited to be here I think this is an absolutely fantastic Forum I this is actually the Forum I've been looking forward to the most and uh looking through the questions that you all put together I got to tell you you guys in my opinion put together better questions than what we've seen in a lot of the other forums what we've gotten in the other forums have been largely things like uh well what do you think about CRT well you know it's not part of the school's curriculum so but there's
003these things that nationally are very uh concerning to people because they see it on the news and you guys are in a place where you're here you're involved in it every day and so I think your questions are much more revealing to what's on your mind and what's a concern for you all as students so I appreciate the invite super excited to be here and uh yeah look forward to these questions thank you and now seat C candidate Brandi Hardy hi West Valley um this is surreal I've been looking forward to this since I decided to announce I graduated from West Valley 20 years ago and sitting up on this stage is just amazing I got to hug my econ teacher walking in the door because Joy grubis taught me econ I can tell you
004guys West Valley is a great place to go to school and it seems to have only gotten better we didn't have forums like this back then I'm so excited to answer your questions like Les said they are phenomenal so I guess I just have one question for you hey West Valley how do you feel I'm so good thank you and now CD candidate Melissa Burnett that was kind of legit I'm just saying hi guys um first off thank you so much West Valley High School for doing this forum thank you Miss Galloway for leading these students to this path nothing is more important than being involved in your local government I see a lot of faces out there I have coached you I have been your team managers I have been with a lot of
005you for the last 16 years and nothing brings me more joy today than being able to sit here in front of you and answer your questions and just have a great time here at West Valley thank you so much for having us thank you and now seat D candidate Kenisha radowski hi guys my name is Kenisha radowski and I'm having to sit on my knees because I'm short I I am oh hi so hey so guys thank you so much for inviting me to this forum I love to answer questions I've seen people but due to HIPAA I cannot say anything and again I this is exciting running for school board registered nurse let's have some fun thank you now we're going to go into the questions from the students audience audience members please hold
006your applause until all candidates have answered the question the first question is from Tierra casnov hello my name is Tiara casanov and I'm a junior at West Valley my question is in 2014 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that all high schools start no earlier than 8 30 am however only 75 percent of high schools in America comply with their recommendations even though many Studies have shown that sleep helps with students cognitive Health if elective would you support moving High School start times 30 minutes to an hour later why or why not Randy Hardy you have 45 seconds um thank you for the question the AP actually called it an epidemic of teen sleep deprivation and as someone who taught at Hutchison High School I agree uh it is really hard for students of your
007age to function that early in the morning uh we considered it in 2019 and yet High School start times remain the same while other school times changed I would absolutely look into finding a way to better respect the science and allow teens to get the Sleep their brains need Thank You Les Nichols is next well I think that Brandi and I actually agree on a lot of stuff and this is one of them uh so there's a I've seen a lot of these studies and it's there's a lot of studies in education that say there's better ways to do things you know class sizes is one of them there's a lot of data on what class sizes should be so I agree I 100 support this idea your bodies are regulated by circadian rhythms they
008tell your body when to go to sleep and when to wake up and that's when your body is doing its growth that's when it's doing all of its rebuilding and healing you've got to have good sleep and if we want excellent results for our students then yeah you gotta be on a sleep cycle that works for you and allows you to be attentive at school thank you now Kenisha radowski yes so as a nurse know a little bit about this I totally agree with that study and yes I do support pushing school back 30 minutes an hour because getting enough sleep is you you need that you truly need that and I got 30 seconds okay yeah I support it thanks thank you now Melissa Burnett um absolutely definitely as a mother of two teenagers
009I actually understand how hard it is to get you guys out of bed in the mornings to get you to school on time it's difficult you guys need to get up but absolutely I agree we need to push it back I also think that there's a lot that goes into this like looking at our already staggered bus situation we do have a lot of issues right there and I would like to get our bus situation figured out so that way we can also transport you to school half an hour to an hour later than what we are right now thank you the next question [Applause] the next question comes from Kaya hey bloomker hello my name is Kaya hey blumker and I'm a freshman at West Valley my question is some school sports and activities
010like football cross country running and flag football are partially funded but others like soccer mock trial do not get as much or any school funding and over the last few years the district has continuously cut activities funding this means that students have to pay more for their participation and fees and it can be too expensive for families to afford sadly many students might not be able to afford it and they will miss the opportunity to participate which is unfair and seems discriminate discriminatory as a school board member what would you do to ensure there's more equal funding or activities within the schools so that it is fair and more Equitable for students Melissa Burnett you have 45 seconds absolutely as a sports parent as a former athlete myself and as a former band student I
011absolutely know how crucial that these extracurricular activities are to all of you between student government and sports Arts band all of it I know that we do have booster programs available in our schools and I definitely would like to look into better support for our booster programs considering we do have an issue with our funding right now but any chance that I do have I will try to work very hard to get you guys funding for your activities because they are of the utmost importance thank you Kenisha radowski is next I agree with Melissa I support the full funding of all activities and I would try my best to Advocate to find Avenues to make that possible thank you thank you now Les Nichols is next so my bachelor's is in sport management Fitness and
012Wellness I was a PE teacher qualified not certified and I'd like to tell you that it's critical to have these sport sporting opportunities they do so much for keeping kids out of trouble they could do a lot for personal development it's super important but it's not something that the schools have to do by themselves this is a community problem and we can address it as a community one of the ways that I do that currently is through sponsorships one of my companies is working with a couple other companies to make sure the West Valley volleyball team gets new uniforms this year we also sponsor fundraisers for Lakers football team they usually do a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars a year with us through those and reaching out into the community and fostering these relationships doing
013uh sponsorships for student athletes these are always thank you Brandi Hardy is next um yeah this is personally important to me I grew up in a lower income household and could not have afforded to pay the High Sports fees that are currently there I have a friend who paid 400 for her daughter to go swimming um but principal and activity directors decide whether general fund goes for activities and I would like to the district to look in to make sure that those are being equitably distributed we could also look into a pay to play type fund like Anchorage does where students pay a hundred and ten dollars and no more than 220 dollars per year and they have waivers in place so that such fees wouldn't be a hardship for some families and I think
014that might be something worth exploring they looked into it around 2015 and Steve zanazzo knows more about that although we've removed some of our activity directors it would be a good place to start thank you the next question comes from Madeline guthy read by Zoe foshee um hi I'm a senior at West Valley and my question is in a study by PBS psychology Professor Gregory Herrick found that those with negative attitorts towards lgbtq plus students were far less likely to have personal contact with lgbtq plus people since 2014 the West Valley gender and sexuality Alliance has given 25-minute presentations to freshman Health classes on gender identity lgbtq vocabulary and pronoun usage to promote respect and understanding but as of last year we were stopped by District administration this has led to increased homophobic rhetoric at
015our schools simply due to people's inexperience are you in support of the class presentations being reinstated and if so how would you make sure they got reinstated thank you Kenisha radowski you have 45 seconds thank you so uh as a nurse I have had to take and sought out take training on pronoun usage and the culture essentially so that I can better serve everybody and I'm in support of class presentations promoting respect and understanding if parents and students want to opt out then they can opt out that's their choice but we all need to hear and understand each other and try to meet each other where we are and it's about respect thank you thank you Melissa Burnett is next so from what oh there we go okay now we're on from what I understand
016uh the state statute law is what actually changed um and everything in that involves this matter just needs to be brought before the school board and as a school board member I do actually look forward to said presentations and given the option of choice I could support it thank you thank you now Brandi Hardy is next in 2018 I was a teacher at Tanana middle school and I had the pleasure of attending one of the GSA presentations during the district in service at that time I had never heard of the term non-binary or that someone could use they them pronouns that presentation was extremely informative and well done I absolutely see the value in that presentation being given to our schools as Melissa stated there is a process that we would have to go through
017to have it approved the district is working on through the health and sex ed curriculum but they would have my full support I would also like to say that your identity is not political Thank You Les Nichols is next so I don't I don't want to repeat what's already been said I read the study and in conclusions Dr Herrick says coming out to heterosexuals especially close friends and immediate family appears to reduce prejudice against gay people as a group he continues to say that it appears to be one of the most promising strategies for promoting the kind of societal change that will ultimately end such Prejudice I'm all for that result but we should infer that Dr Herrick was including parents when he said immediate family in this conclusion and here comes a complication District
018policy State School Personnel should not disclose a student's transgender status to others including parents this has made a lot of parents nervous as they interpret this as a policy to attempt to exclude them from this type of conversation from their children talk to a lot of these parents they're worried about it and that that trust has to be built between the parents because they are a part of this conversation and they also oh there's a Time okay thank you and now we will go to our first lightning round candidates will indicate they agree by holding up the yes paddle or disagree using the no paddle we will begin the lightning round now hello my name is Zachary Shin uh I'm a freshman and are you in favor of extending the launch period so students don't
019feel so rushed thank you my name is Addie witgriff and I am a sophomore here do you think remote learning like we had during covid should still be an option for students thank you my name is Elliot and I'm a freshman and just this year there have been 113 incidents of gunfire on score grounds resulting in 41 deaths and 82 injuries national wide because of this you believe certified teachers should be armed while on school grounds thank you hi my name is Riley rosh I'm a junior here at West Valley lunches are no longer free for every student would you support finding a way to make school lunches free for all students again thank you the next question comes from Jordan godzina hello my name is Jordan godzina and I'm a senior at West Valley
020my question is as someone who menstruates having period products is something that I have to deal with for most of my life one in five teens has struggled to afford period products or hasn't been able to purchase them at all I believe there should be free period products in the bathrooms to help alleviate uncertainty and stress there are already so many stressors in young teenage Lives having to worry about walking to the nurse actively bleeding and facing the shame created by the stigma around menstruating shouldn't be one of them if elected would you support finding budget money for free period products in all middle and high school student bathrooms Les nickels you have 45 seconds I can answer that one a lot shorter than that uh I think I think it's as basic as having
021toilet paper in the bathroom so absolutely yes thank you Brandi harty is next I would absolutely support finding funding in the budget or establishing Community Community Partnerships to provide all manner of menstruation products free of charge to students in school menstruation is natural and having the appropriate tools to deal with it well at school is vital to make sure that all students have an uh an equitable opportunity to learn without undo additional barriers thank you now Melissa Burnett is next as a woman there's three of us up here we have gone through these issues absolutely um I would definitely like to look at our local non-profits our local women's centers um to first see if we can get more free things from them I know that they already do donate a lot um and then
022definitely we need to look into the budget um this is something all young girls and young ladies need absolutely thank you Kenisha radowski is next uh yes to pads yes to tampons I they need to be readily available yes thank you the next question comes from Mason Parker read by Oliver Oak North hello my name is Oliver opkenworth I'm a sophomore here at West Valley and my question is based on statistics from the National Alliance on Mental Health one in six youth as a mental health condition but only half of them receive treatment suicide is contemplated by 18 percent of high school students and attempted by half of those who consider as well as being the second leading cause of death in 10 to 14 year olds even if help is sought out there's an
023average time of one and a half years before somebody with symptoms receives assistance this period of time could be shortened if more counseling with easier access was provided what specific actions would you take in your position to ensure students had uncomplicated access to mental health treatment in schools Brandy Hardy you have 45 seconds in my ideal world all schools would have easy access to certified counselors and mental health professionals the nation especially Alaska as a whole is facing a huge issue finding accessible mental health professionals this problem must be prioritized and solved there's no easy answers but I will be an advocate for finding Solutions through federal grants pushing for State allocated funds earmarked for counseling and Mental Health Resources some of those are already in the pipeline I have heard Thank You Les Nichols
024is next so with big problems we've got to take a team approach and obviously schools having schools is the first line of uh of detection is super important I think supporting programs like peer counseling is critical because you as students understand where your friends are at before adults do most of the time so it's really important that we encourage and provide resources to you all to be able to support each other then secondly we need the counselors need to have a host of resources available so they can help refer parents to other places but we've got to be careful although we want to be a part of the solution we shouldn't be the place where the treatment is necessarily carried out we need Partnerships with other organizations and agencies to make sure that kids are
025getting the help that they need thank you now Kenisha radowski so as a nurse I'm pretty familiar with all this um to my understanding we do have licensed clinicians in many of the schools I would push and Advocate to have a licensed clinician in every school and we need to again meet these kids where they are the the Educators teachers are the first people sometimes that sees what's going on and we need to be able to help thank you Melissa Burnett is next this one's actually uh kind of hard for me mental health is big I've lost family members to it um suicide is something that we definitely need to look at out there um and it's one of my big reasons on why I support also not just clinicians but getting RNs back in
026our schools every school should have a nurse every school should have mental health clinicians every school should have counselors ready and available for you students this is something that is astronomically huge and we definitely need to pay attention to thank you and now we will go to our second lightning round candidates will indicate they agree by holding up the yes paddle or disagree using the no paddle uh hi I'm Oscar Vale I'm a sophomore do you have a child that is a student in the district thank you hello my name is Dylan Herman I'm a senior and would you support or revised social studies curriculum that puts more emphasis on learning about civil rights topics such as women's suffrage same-sex marriage and civil rights movements thank you hello my name is Owen Swan Adams I'm
027a senior at West Valley on average 95 of students bring a cell phone to class and 92 percent use their phones during class time do you believe cell phones should be banned from classes even if they can be used for school purposes thank you hi I'm Andrea Lewis I'm a senior and the question is having a four day week can save money and reduce stress many lower 48 states are and punishing the four day week to attract teachers do you support a four day week for students in our district thank you the next question comes from Kaya Vic read by Riley Devon hi I'm Riley Devon I'm a junior at West Valley and my question is providing safe and inclusive spaces for lgbtq plus students starts with teaching lgbtq plus topics however pink news reported
028that over two-thirds of teachers have not received training regarding how to present lgbtq plus topics in their classrooms additionally glenson reports roughly 68 percent of students do not receive education on lgbtq plus Topics in their schools this lack of inclusion in curricula does not educate students on re relevant issues nor does it support lgbtq plus students and their identities as a member of the school board would you support directing the administration to educate teachers and students on lgbtq plus topics and if so how Melissa Burnett you have 45 seconds um honestly as a blanket statement I will be the unpopular opinion and I don't know that I can say yes to that my biggest question is I just don't see how that helps an algebra teacher teach algebra um I am definitely on The Stance
029of choice I don't think it should be forced upon all staff but if there are staff that are willing and want to yes definitely thank you thank you Kenisha radowski is next so as a nurse I had to take a class and also I have to do continuing education on cultural awareness because it helps me better with my job so I do support Educators teachers having to learn about LGBT issues and what's going on and I support it because I do it thank you now Les Nichols is next so you may notice I held up a yes and no question on one of those things and it's because I don't want to give a blanket approval to anything that I haven't seen or read a lot of these questions require more information I did a
030training uh back at my school in Florida a long time ago and it was a long time ago so there's a lot of things that have changed that training was pretty rough so I'd like to see what's in that training what does it look like I need more information from the lgtbq community to see what it is that you're trying to um put in those places I just don't know enough so I'd like to hear more from you I need more information to take a position to support something like this Avenue to better educator Educators in the lgbtq plus topics would be through professional development sessions like those I attended put on by your GSA another option would be would be to go through our teachers union FEA through sponsored continuing education unit classes that
031teachers could choose to take however the question is more operational and under the purview of the superintendent or the boss of the district which is why it is vitally important that we hire one who values and respects lgbtq identities and voices thank you the next question comes from Caitlin Gianni hi I'm Caitlin Gianni and I'm a senior here at West Valley here's my question since 2019 roughly 2.6 million U.S Educators have left the teaching field negatively impacting school districts Across the Nation including ours because of the ongoing teacher shortage as well as the school district's budgeting strategies our current student teacher ratio at high school is 31.5 some English and science classes at West Valley have over 35 students burning out teachers and pushing some to Forfeit their preparation time for the sake of teaching
032extra class periods if elected to the school board would you prioritize lowering class sizes over other budget items and what would you be willing to sacrifice for the sake of smaller class sizes Kenisha radowski you have 45 seconds so I am totally in favor of decreasing class sizes I just don't know what I would cut out the budget to make that happen but I'm definitely I'm definitely in favor of doing that we just have to find a way to make it make it happen thank you Melissa Burnett is next absolutely like Kenisha said I hate that word what do we want to cut what do we want to sacrifice I hate that so much we've already cut so much from our budget you guys are already suffering without certain classes and things I do know
033that I will fight to protect and work hard to keep our teachers our staff our CTE programs in all of our extracurriculars those I do know I would fight to keep thank you thank you now Brandi Hardy is next I think that our neighborhood school school should have the hard class caps found in our Charters the district's use of average class size leads to inequity in class sizes it allows outliers in a very small or very large class to exist and then we're seeing this okay because they fit within the average our local class sizes are unreasonable and we need to commit to lowering them I would say that the sacrifice part is a bit of a false dilemma there's a third option we elect officials who prioritize your education and our willing to fund
034our Alaskan schools appropriately Thank You Les Nichols is next so Lauren class sizes and supporting teachers is absolutely my number one priority in the budget everything else is second we can't provide a great education our kids if we overload teachers with ridiculous student to teacher ratios our teachers need our support our students need them to be supported and teachers need to be paid well they need time to plan they need time to not be saddled with every problem that comes from a tight budget oh well we don't have somebody to do this now well give it to the teachers uh their job as a teach we need a clear path so they can focus on that primary responsibility they definitely should have should not have to fight the administration for bathroom breaks the next question
035comes from Mercedes Anderson hi I'm Mercedes Anderson I'm a junior here at West Valley Music in the early stages of development improves fine motor skills coordination language development Focus memory fundamental math skills discipline teamwork and build students performance and public speaking skills with these benefits what are you willing to alter in the budget to have better music and Ensemble programs in elementary school and why Les nickels you have 45 seconds so voter education fits into most social studies curriculums uh in elementary schools you can introduce it in Middle Schools you can expand on it in high school it becomes really important especially as you get towards your senior year because as seniors most of you are either soon going to be able to vote or you already can so in terms of making that stuff
036available we've got to make sure that you guys are getting opportunities to register to vote that you know where to go to vote um things like this are fantastic mock mock elections or where you get to vote on issues in the community all of those things are pieces that we need to continue to encourage in the school to increase participation you know this election is only supposed to have about 18 000 people vote out of the 100 000 people in our area that's a 18 turnout rate that's not so great Brandi Hardy is next I've been working with a music advocacy group since last year to help get abandoned Orchestra return to our elementary schools it's a tough problem to solve but one way some people think it could be solved is by removing it
037from a budget line item I think we could with effort and Community Support create an endowment for Arts and Music in our schools so that the Arts and Music funding is self-sustaining it would be an incredible challenge to take on but one that would pay huge dividends for generations of American student or American Fairbanks students to come if we are successful less nickels you can redo your answer so funny thing I'm actually uh I'm a person with ADD and it's it's pretty rough um so let me find my other there it is right there okay so thank you for that so when I say teachers are my first priority in the budget that includes our Music Arts and PE teachers the school I ran in Florida was a performing arts school uh so everything is
038second to the teachers I worked for uh that school for 10 years I'm well aware for the massive benefits of music and performance brings to students education and we have to budget for our teachers first and then we figure out how to handle everything else thanks for your patience on that guys Melissa Burnett is next as I've always said in every form and with every question that comes at us with what would we cut that's I can't even begin to try to consider that in a perfect world we would have everything that we want every program everything um like Brandi said though I will do everything that I can to find a solution to have these programs as a 20-year flutist a radio host I understand music's importance music is literally my life thank you
039thank you now Kenisha radowski so a little background I have a little guy who was so excited to start Orchestra in the fourth grade and then when he got in the fourth grade it was taken away so you know that was disappointing so I would wholeheartedly support Institute music and as far as cutting I just again I don't know what is left to cut in the budget I would seek out Community Partnerships to help make all this happen thank you the next question comes from Cadence malamio and Cadence shufeld hi I'm Kaden Chupa and I'm a junior I'm Karen Smith and I'm also a junior my question is there are many culture activities that are people that the people who are native to the China Valley engage in but often don't go hunting blueberry picking
040or do any other activities because my grades would suffer by missing class and having to do all the makeup work if elected how would you make sure Alaska native students could still do the cultural activities without being penalized Randy Hardy you have 45 seconds when I taught when I taught New Hampshire our school would take a week off every year for the community Fair they prioritize the needs of their Community within the school schedule I also know Effie Cochran as a charter school incorporates an alternative schedule to allow for subsistence activities throughout the year I think it's worth investigating if there are more pla place-based school calendar would better serve our greater District as a whole Charters are meant to be Proving Ground for new ideas and it could be worth expanding on this one
041Thank You Les Nichols is next I agree with with what Miss Hardy said I think this is a place that we can look at the systems we've used over the last couple years could be a great place for us to try some of the online learning strategies as a temporary alternative we can also allow for work to be done ahead or after but that kind of builds up which is I think part of your problem there that you're trying to address but I will say that our schools shouldn't be institutions that disrupt the community of our native people and their culture it should add to them and not take away from from their cultures thank you now Kenisha radowski is next so I would look to see how we can turn absences for culture activities
042in into like education credits so that the students isn't they're not missing out um let's build cultural awareness and I'm for any thing that can help make that happen thank you Melissa Burnett is next uh first off this is a fantastic question and thank you so much for asking it um I actually kind of took the stance Kenisha did here I best home school my middle child is homeschool do best and a lot of these activities are actually able to be substituted for Class Credit so you get to go and learn to live off the land you get to keep your cultural things about your and you still get your credits without missing your class time um I definitely miss Hardy had perfect ideas um all of this definitely we need to look in ways
043to make this so you guys aren't missing class time your grades aren't affected and maybe it even counts for your classes thank you [Applause] comes from another student read by Emma honey hi I'm Emma honey and I'm a senior my question is a study from Circle at tuftes University shows that young people who received both encouragement and instruction on voting in high school voted at a rate seven percentage points higher than youth who received neither as someone who has been in the U.S public school system for the entirety of my school career I have just started learning about government and voting as a senior if elected to the school board how would you support voter education in the curriculum to help create or educated voters in the future Melissa Burnett you have 45 seconds uh
044voting is absolutely vital to our democracy and kids just like you are our future voters you guys are the ones that are going to go out there and choose our Future Leaders um I would like to see a lot more attention on student government I know you guys have it but to support it better would be amazing um Civics forums like these are absolutely amazing I would love to see more high schools do this and more forums like this pop up where you guys get to be part of it you guys get to ask the questions and you guys get to be involved um you know voting is so much more than prom king and queen and so it would be amazing to see more support and more attention paid to our local and national
045government elections okay thank you Kenisha radowski is next so I'm piggybacking off Melissa I agree and advocate for something like a first-time voter program given young people the Practical knowledge of what the how to vote what they need to vote also talking to students about the importance of voting on contemporary issues so yes thank you now Les Nichols not going to get me twice so since I already answered this question out of order uh I think I'm just going to let my previous answer stand I don't want to take up too much time we were warned that you guys don't have a lot of it so I want to try and keep you on schedule sorry again for getting that out of order thank you Brandi harty is next uh we actually already have an
046approved voter curriculum through kids voting the program has not been all that it could be in past years but they've received new grants and are having a more dialed in focus on our high schools and I have high hopes that that new leadership will produce better desired results uh the other thing our district can do is encourage Civic engagement exactly like what is happening here you are engaged you are involved and that is wonderful I would like to see this type of event expanded to other district schools this is a pilot a model for what we could do other places and I'd like to see it grow thank you the next question the next question comes from Salem Mazer uh hi my name is Zoe foshee I am a senior at West Valley and my
047question is the teaching of critical race theory has been a Hot Topic in education recently would you support it being taught in our classrooms why or why not thank you Kenisha radowski you have 45 seconds so I just like to ask like what what is CRT there is no CRT in the K-12 curriculum the framework as I understand it is taught in graduate school we teach history because that's mandated by the state the school board has not adopted any policy in the K-12 setting regarding CRT Kenisha oh sorry uh thank you Melissa Burnett is next um like Kenisha said it's not in our curriculum currently it was designed for college courses mostly law and sociology majors and I just feel that that's where it belongs thank you now Brandi Hardy is next uh while I
048support providing students with true history and facts I have to point out like they have that critical race theory is a college level Theory and not taught in our schools um beyond that it was created in 2020 by Christopher rufo who took this Theory and turned it into an all-encompassing liberal Boogeyman term uh he was very effective in his efforts as a certified teacher I can say that it's not part of our district curriculum and not all discussions of race or racial virus bias amount to teaching critical race Theory Thank You Les Nichols is next so I think it's super important to recognize that things like race gender sexuality have all been categories to exclude people from from academic topics and critical race there unfortunately it's a it's a lens it's like putting on rose-colored
049glasses everything you see is red well then you go put on Blue glasses now everything's blue it's it's useful when you're in in the higher levels of Academia because it allows you to see the systems in a different light but it doesn't tell the whole picture more importantly as students in a K-12 setting I worry about what it does in terms of framing people in terms of oppressors and oppressed because what's really important is we learn to treat each other well and with respect and if anyone feels like the system's a block for your success I'm always happy to sit down with you and share what I can offer about how to get where you want to go thank you candidates it is now time for closing statements each candidate will have one minute and
050we will rotate in the same way as the opening statements but in the reverse order Kenisha radowski you will go first well I just like to thank you all for having us here and having me here this has been an experience again I am a nurse I don't know all the answers but I'm an avid researcher and you can all I'm always welcome to ideas and have a good Wednesday thank you Melissa Burnett is next yeah just thank you so much West Valley High School nothing again is more important to me than you guys being here and asking the questions that you have this has been absolutely amazing of you guys it takes a lot to get up there and do what you've done so thank you so much for having us um you know
051I'm a mom I've got three kids that go to school just like you do and I'm here for you and your teachers and I just want what's best just like everybody else here does so thank you very much and I hope you guys have a fantastic rest of your school year thank you now Brandi Hardy is next um yes thank you West Valley and to the teachers and staff uh you guys did an amazing job I am so thoroughly impressed and I would be missed as a teacher not to take this opportunity to remind you that what you are doing here today doesn't stop here this engagement this excitement all of this is so important as you grow into the amazing young adults you're becoming that you continue to be involved continue to ask tough
052questions continue to speak truth to power you are amazing and you are our future and I am so excited to see what you're going to do thank you now Les Nichols again thank you guys this is fantastic definitely the favorite form I've done and uh that that is going to live with me that I answered the wrong question at the wrong time so uh but I want to say too that a lot of times we see in politics how ugly it can get uh I want to say that I have nothing but respect for everybody that sits on this stage it's not an easy process putting yourself out there for the world to scrutinize and tear you apart and I can say wholeheartedly that everybody on the stage is a good person they're doing this
053for the right reasons and and I feel like no matter what happens after this election that our school board is going to benefit from the experiences and perspectives of anybody up here so I just want to say thank you to the other candidates because it's often not said so it's been a tough run I know all of that for all of you but thank you for keeping it classy and I think you all are fantastic and again thank you all here at West Valley for hosting us thank you candidates for your time and dedication this was an excellent Forum thank you to the students staff and parents at West Valley for supporting the 8th Annual West Valley candidate Forum if you are 18 or will be 18 within 90 days you can register to vote
054today at lunch in the Commons with our League of Women Voters for all registered voters get out and vote on Tuesday October 4th and at West Valley we will be participating in kids voting students please feel free to stay and ask questions to the candidates before the next Bell Rings thank you for doing democracy with us your voice is your power [Applause]