Prepared to meet challenges on Haldane board
As a member of our community since 2002, I’d like to ask for your vote in the upcoming school board election. As a board member, I would bring 15 years of experience as a high school math teacher and a passion for education to bear on what is the one of the most important functions of our community.
I have taught in New York City and the Middle East, as well as in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties. I’ve also had the opportunity to train, evaluate and mentor new teachers in both public schools and the graduate program at Pace University. As the mother of two young boys, I’m committed to ensuring that they receive a world-class public school education right here at Haldane.
My service in many different schools — from ones in inner-city Brooklyn to a private school in Amman, Jordan — taught me that even though the backgrounds and socioeconomic situations of students varies widely, a good education has the same fundamental features everywhere. Good schools are safe environments where the staff is competent and caring, and the administration makes the right decisions for its students despite constant pressures from external sources. They are places where students are engaged by material that relates to their lives.
We need to deal with issues like testing and the Common Core that every school system has to deal with. Parents and students alike need to understand why they are being tested and why the curriculum is being changed (it seems like) every few years, and not just adapt to the changes as a matter of survival. Why are these changes in their best interests? If we can’t explain this, we have to pause and reconsider our motives.
The Haldane School District also has some unique challenges to confront. Drug use among our students needs to be addressed not only by the community, but by our school system as well. Ensuring we have enough resources to make a small school system capable of graduating students prepared for successful college study and the current workplace is another challenge.
I am prepared to meet all of these challenges, from the broad to the small. I have a degree in mathematics from Duke University and two master’s degrees in education and administration. I am an involved member of the community and keep my finger on the pulse of the issues facing Haldane. I look forward to serving you on its school board.
