Why I’m Running: Kory Riesterer

Wants to serve community on Haldane board

I’m running for school board trustee because I owe a debt to the work of previous generations of parents and community members who made Haldane what it is today. I want to do the same for the students who will come long after my own children have graduated.

My husband and I have lived in Cold Spring for 10 years, and we have a kindergartner and third-grader at Haldane. We’re both originally from the Midwest and moved to the village because I’m a gardener and needed a small plot of earth to call my own. City life couldn’t give us that. We’ve found a sense of community here, and I want to grow that.

I have a B.A. in comparative literature / German and M.A. in applied linguistics from Indiana University. I’ve studied and worked abroad, as an exchange student in Germany and English teacher in the Czech Republic. I also worked as director of language services at a translation agency in New York City, managing a wide range of projects, adhering to strict budgets and deadlines and being responsible for freelance staff. The job gave me an eye for detail and an eye for line items: quality work while keeping costs low.

That’s what Haldane’s Board of Education has been doing and needs to continue doing. Fiscal responsibility means always looking at the long run while also looking for creative, short-run solutions. Money matters, immensely, to a district as small as ours, but heart and soul matter just as much in education.

That’s why I believe nurturing a culture of community volunteerism is one of the best ways schools can keep costs low and quality high, and my record of service at Haldane reflects this. I chair the PTA garden committee and have worked hard to bring outdoor, hands-on learning to students at zero cost to taxpayers. I’m also active on the PTA Learning Differences Committee and have helped bring speakers to Haldane, a support group for parents, a social skills group for kids and grade-level projects that help students understand diversity — again all at zero cost to taxpayers. I’ve also been a volunteer on the Elementary School Improvement Team, a parent member at special education CPSE/CSE meetings and am currently involved in the district’s Strategic Planning Process.

Every school board election feels like a critical moment in time, because every year in a child’s life is critical to their development, and because every year brings new and often unexpected fiscal challenges. An effective trustee knows how to balance both: by doing their research, listening to all the stakeholders and thinking deeply and carefully before making decisions. I take time to deliberate and am thoughtful, rather than knee-jerk, in my response.

I am a good listener, the mediator in my own family, and believe respectful disagreement is not something to be afraid of — it can and often does lead to consensus and progress. When administrators, teachers and the taxpaying community all trust one another to speak the truth, good things happen and children thrive.