I am running for Northfield School Board because I have a great passion for education in general, and a specific desire to help Northfield schools succeed in providing the best possible education for our children. This will not be an easy task, for Minnesota faces shrinking budgets, changing demographics, and increasingly high expectations for teaching and learning.

I have a long history of professional involvement in education in a wide variety of capacities. My professional experience includes nearly 25 years of teaching in public schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin, along with private, independent schools in Texas and Minnesota. I have taught English at the middle and high school levels, and English as a Second Language in community education abroad. I am also a mother of two children. My son is a 2007 graduate of Northfield High School and my daughter is a freshman at the high school.

Since moving to Northfield in 1990, I have had the opportunity to volunteer in every school building, to serve on several committees and task forces, and to co-chair the 2006 Northfield Levy Referenda Campaign for Citizens for Quality Education. I have worked side by side with Northfield parents, teachers, administrators, community leaders and students to strive for the best possible opportunities for learning. What I find most rewarding in this work is the communication networks I have developed with you, the community members, about education issues. This is what makes me a strong candidate for serving on the school board. I know the schools, I am tuned into the issues schools face today, and I am ready to work to make the Northfield Schools the best they can be.

Over the past several years I have looked beyond our district’s borders, and I have studied the challenges of funding schools, fulfilling educational plans for special needs students, and helping teachers stay up-to-date in their fields. And we must do all of this and more while we maintain school buildings, provide safe busing for the children and purchase appropriate technology to send our students out in the world equipped to handle a fast-paced future.

Education is a part of me. I will bring my energy and enthusiasm to the job of Northfield School Board Member.