My Life in Anacortes

My husband, Sean, and I moved to Anacortes in 2001 to be near family. We have fallen in love with Fidalgo Island and have chosen to stay here to raise our two sons, partly because of our excellent schools. Our boys will be in 8th and 5th grade, at AMS and Mt. Erie, next school year.

Both of our boys play hockey and other sports, which keep us busy as a family. When we aren’t at the rink, we love road trip adventures, camping, hikes in our beautiful forest lands, kayaking and spending time with good friends.

I am the Executive Director at the Anacortes Arts Festival, a true dream job for me. In this role, I get to be a part of a creative team, work with an amazing Board of Directors, create a weekend celebration that brings so much joy and I get to work with people in our community every day. A primary focus for us is funding youth art. Through this piece of our mission, I’ve worked closely with our schools and educators to help keep creativity strong in our schools.

I’ve been volunteering for the Anacortes School District for 15 years. I began by taking assistance dogs to read with students in the hallways and have had the opportunity to volunteer in and out of the classroom over the years. I’ve spent hundreds of hours teaching art lessons, supporting teachers with classroom projects and by answering calls for volunteers any time I was available, for a variety of roles.

Why I am running for School Board

This is a really volatile time in our country, in our community and in our school district. There is a lot of misinformation and a number of political agendas being pushed forward, which have no place in our schools. We have to be careful that we don’t let the pendulum of radical thinking swing back and forth so drastically that it creates negative outcomes for our students & educators.

I want to bring my leadership style, one of rational thought and fairness, to the table. Building community and collaboration is a passion of mine. I believe that through good communication, creative problem solving and thoughtful conversation, all things are possible. There are ways to create pathways to success for all of our students.

Every student walks through the school doors with a different story. It is an extraordinary challenge that schools face to meet the needs of every one of those students. Caring for and creating pathways for one population doesn’t take away from another population of students. If we start by believing this, the possibilities are limitless.