|
About Me |
|
Who am I? Mainly, I’m a mom: an educated mom. I’m also a businesswoman and an active contributor to our community. I have become qualified to do a great job as the District G Trustee on our school board. Here, I share with you how I have gained my qualifications. |
|
My Education - Master’s Degree |
|
Ever since our family moved to District G in 1999, two days before our oldest child began kindergarten, I have been comparing our kids’ education here in Clark County with my own education and with what is available around the country and around the world. My education in Pocatello, Idaho began with Montessori and ended at Highland High School. I graduated as one of fourteen valedictorians in my high school class of 1988. I was a National Honor Society officer, editor of the school newspaper, captain of the women’s cross-country team, school record-holder in the 3200m, and female scholar-athlete of the year. When an injury halted my plans to run cross-country at Utah State, I accepted an academic scholarship to Brigham Young University. I entered college with a plan to double-major in biology and journalism and become a science reporter. During a summer back home helping with limb development research at Idaho State University, I formed a new “Plan A,” to become a high school chemistry teacher. I didn’t like the first education class I took, so I decided to stick with a science major and earn my teaching license later on. Some of the jobs I took to pay the rent and buy food while I was earning my bachelor’s degree included washing dishes, serving food, janitorial, retail sales, teaching Greek, and helping translate a computer software manual into Greek. College summers, I did quality control and go-backs for a cedar shake roofing company. I earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology, with a minor in chemistry, in 1994, followed by a master’s degree in zoology with a focus on developmental biology and pharmacokinetics in 1995. During my master’s studies, I taught human anatomy as a teaching assistant in the human cadaver lab at Brigham Young University. I also participated in a National Institutes of Health research collaboration with Harvard University into chondrodysplasia (a fatal form of genetic dwarfism), as well as research into pharmacokinetics of potential teratogens, limb development, and birth outcomes of maternal stress. I am a strong believer in scientific advancement in our world. My favorite way to keep current on science is through the magazine American Scientist. I’ve been accepted to a university to earn a second master’s degree in education and get a teaching license, but I’ve been having so much fun volunteering in schools that I haven’t yet made time to go back to school! |
|
My Experience as a Concerned Parent |
|
In October, 1999, our son’s kindergarten teacher asked me to volunteer at her booth at the school carnival. I quickly learned that an energetic, dependable volunteer is a precious resource to our children’s schools. I volunteer at our children’s elementary school, middle school, and high school, and in other opportunities: September, 1999 I joined the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) at Tomiyasu ES. In 04-05 I was legislative chair; president in 06-07. I put together the PTA newsletter, and I chaired the successful fall carnival fundraisers we held in 2007, 2008, and 2009. September, 2002 The principal asked me to represent our children’s elementary school at Parent Advisory Committee meetings for District G. This was how I first became acquainted with other concerned parents and issues outside my school. An amazing thing happened at that first meeting: I found my passion. My dedication to the students in our community’s schools, and my volunteer involvement with education issues, have been growing ever since. August, 2003 I accepted an appointment to the Attendance Zone Advisory Commission (AZAC). As an AZAC volunteer, I have met with, listened to, and worked with many parents, students, and principals, and have walked and driven many miles in neighborhoods up for possible school boundary changes. I have crunched numbers, pulled Census data, and scrutinized maps. I have seen the superhuman work of dedicated district staff, and I have been bold in questioning their proposals. I have discovered that there are thousands of parents right here in District G who truly care. March, 2005 I testified before the Assembly Education Committee about full-day kindergarten. March, 2005 I agreed to be a parent representative on the Clark County School District’s Professional Development Consortium. It was during this volunteer experience that it became clear to me that our school district is at risk for a disconnect between central administration and schools, and is in need of greater transparency. August, 2005 I responded to the school district’s flyers inviting parents with college degrees to consider becoming substitute teachers. I was hired as a guest teacher and spent most of the school year substitute teaching at our children’s elementary school. I loved it, but in April of 2006 I was appointed by Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins to the oversight committee for a legislative audit of the school district. I determined that it would be a conflict of interest to be both an employee of the school district and a parent representative on the audit committee, so I resigned my position as a guest teacher. January, 2006 I served on the Nevada Department of Education Honor Code work group. April, 2006 Our state legislature brought in an outside consultant to audit the school district, and the legislature appointed an oversight committee to assist their consultant in the review of the school district. I was appointed to the committee as a member of the general public, then was elected chair by the other members of the committee. This gave me the opportunity to coordinate the efforts of the committee to fulfill our duty found in Nevada Revised Statutes 387.618: to monitor the progress of the consultant in conducting the review. Our meetings with the auditor allowed us a look at some of the inner workings of the school district, and I became certain that transparency is needed in many areas. When the auditor allowed the committee a pre-release look at a power-point summary of the audit, I investigated the sources behind the auditors’ identified potential cost savings. Of the nearly $453 million that the auditor had identified, $351 million would have required a state law to make developers help fund new schools. As a Trustee, I will find cost savings within current laws. November, 2006 I attended the first meeting of the Clark County School District Parent Engagement Forum. I was elected chair in 2007. I am learning about innovations in various schools across the district, about decision making at the central level, about the school district’s response to shrinking resources, and about ways parents can directly influence student success in our community.
Summer, 2007 I served on a committee to review a parent request to censor The Bridge to Terabithia. We decided the book should not be removed from schools. May, 2007 I was part of a group of parents with concerns about secondary schools serving our neighborhoods. We learned what a Community Education Advisory Board (CEAB) is. We formed the CORE CEAB that fall, and I was elected board president. We met quarterly for two years, and great things happened for the students at the schools involved. September, 2008 I became a School Support Team parent member for our son’s high school. Spring, 2009 Along with a few other parents from Del Sol High School, I received training on the Nevada Career Information System and helped build a parent cadre of volunteers to help our school’s staff as they connect students with career, college, and scholarship opportunities.
|
|
My Business - Technical Writing |
|
My success in small business began when I left my position as Director of Development for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas in 1998. My greatest achievement while at BGCLV was to initiate, leverage funding for, and acquire a computer lab for every neighborhood Club. As a technical writer with youth development and science specialties, I write grant and funding requests and consult with organizations regarding development, program design, target population analysis, and impact measurement. My clients appreciate that I believe in not “a penny for your thoughts” but for a product. Business is about people making things happen. I have written hundreds of successful funding requests , designed outcomes measurement protocols, conducted client demographics analyses, consulted on long-term strategic plans, and assisted with development restructuring. I have developed budgets, tracked spending, and reported on the use of funds. I have defended grant requests before grant-making committees. I have participated in the successful turnaround of two Boys & Girls Clubs organizations that were struggling. One of my favorite things to do is to mentor others who are getting their own grant-writing businesses going. My business associations in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Massachusetts have given me an inside look at other school systems and at best practices that help children and youth build successful futures. |
|
Reading to kindergarten students in “Mrs. Cranor’s Corner.” |
|
Carnival HQ: the PTA “cave” |
|
Listening is one of the most important things anybody can do. That includes volunteers! |
|
Hands-on work, alongside other parents, like working the concessions stand, is my favorite kind of volunteer work. |
|
School athletic events are another favorite type of volunteer opportunity. |
|
About Me |
|
Some of the things I have learned that will help me do a great job as a Trustee, I have learned from the leisure activities I enjoy. I enjoy many opportunities to work directly with young people as a volunteer for various organizations that serve youth. Some of my favorite volunteer activities have been as a coach, an archery range master, and an outdoor rappelling director. In these activities, I have gained a deeper appreciation for educators in our schools who help young people overcome challenges and fears and succeed in ways they never thought they could. Reading and writing for fun have both helped me to appreciate the uniqueness of each individual and the vast diversity of the human race. I am learning that every child has a unique set of challenges, and a unique potential. Through leisure reading and writing, I have acquired a strong commitment to meeting the needs of the individual, and to helping each young person dare to dream and then realize that dream. Running gives me a perspective that keeps me constantly aware of the individuals I hope to represent as a Trustee. In some areas in my life, I know what it is like to be high-achieving. In running, I know what it is like to be in the middle or the back of the pack! One of my happiest moments was when I managed to run a marathon in the “average” time for women in the United States. I think often of the vast spectrum of ability, talent, and preparation with which students come into our schools. Running is what it needs to be for me, regardless of the pace I can keep. Education must likewise suit the needs of each of our students. My favorite leisure activities are those I enjoy with my family. We love to play table games, play flag football with our neighbors, rockhound, camp in the mountains, and visit historic sites, museums, and the ocean. What do I gain from these fun times with my family that will help me serve well as a District G Trustee? I gain, over and over again, reminders that children need a voice, that parents whose lives are wrapped around their children always have a valid perspective regarding their children’s education, and that families must always receive a listening ear. I will support families in the choices and opportunities they want to provide to their children. |
|
Other Volunteerism and Hobbies |
|
Visit online ... |
