RSS Feed
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Island School Board Involves Three Candidates
Board member Paul Wandrie is not seeking another term. The following profiles of the candidates are based on interviews with questions provided ahead of time. Candidates discussed their qualifications and their thoughts about the school and its students. THERESE 'TERRY' ANDRESS Education: 1981 graduate of Harrison High S c h o o l . Enrolled at C e n t r a l M i c h i g a n University for three years, majoring in business and minoring in chemistry. Occupation: Bookkeeper for Mackinac Island Carriage Tours. Family: Married to Bill. They have one son, John, 3, a preschooler at Mackinac Island Public School. Involvement: Mackinac Island Elections Board since 2004.
Terry Andress is interested in becoming more involved with the school. Her son, John, entered preschool this year as one of seven Head Start students, a program coordinated and funded through the Community Action Agency and Michigan S c h o o l R e a d i n e s s Program. She said she will keep an open mind and be a good listener if she is elected to the board. "I'm prepared to be here for the parents and students already enrolled in the school, during John's education, and for the young children who will be coming up behind him," said Mrs. Andress. She wants to help establish a Parent-Teacher Association, an idea suggested during the board's informal school improvement meeting with the public in March. She said such a group could get more parents involved with the school and their children's education. "Being a new parent, I don't know why there aren't more parents involved now," she said.
She is also committed to attending more after-school functions and athletic events. "I am at the school almost every day with my son, so I can be approached at any time by staff, students, and parents," said Mrs. Andress. She said students on Mackinac Island benefit greatly from small classrooms, where teachers can provide one-on-one attention to students, just as they did for her husband, who is a 1978 graduate. Issues she believes are most pressing are the state's struggling economy and the effects it has on the school, retaining year-around families, improving declining enrollment, improving the school facility, and keeping up with the state's curriculum and graduation standards. She believes the school needs to work with the City of Mackinac Island and all interested parties to solve the Island's lack of affordable, year-around housing, a problem that can hinder the board when trying to attract new teachers. "We are dominated by seasonal employee housing," she said, "and there is not enough affordable and available housing for those wanting to live on the Island year-around." One idea for school improvement is for board members talk with high school students and recent graduates to see how the school could have better prepared them for advanced education or life after school. "We can learn from them," she said. She also would like to explore the idea of providing more fun and educational programs outside the classroom. MARSHA KLEBER Education: Graduate of North Park High School in Chicago; earned a bachelor's degree in speech therapy at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; earned a master's degree in special education at Wayne State University in Detroit. Occupation: A general education and special education teacher for 27 years, with the last 23 years at Farmington. She is now retired. Family: She and her husband, Charles 'Chuk,' have four adult children and nine grandchildren. Involvement: Warden of the Vestry at Trinity Episcopal Church, serves on Northwestern University's reunion committee. Residency: The Klebers purchased a residence on the Island in 1993 and began living here year-around in a home they built in 2003. Experience and time are two qualities Marsha Kleber can bring to the school board, she says. She is retired from teaching, having taught for 27 years, and now wants to share her expertise on the board and volunteer her time to enhance student education. Mrs. Kleber believes her experience in public schools, and as a parent of four public school-educated students, makes her a legitimate candidate for the school board. "I have worked closely with teachers, administrators (including superintendents), school boards, and all staff and support personnel for many years," she said. "I especially have experience working collaboratively with many different groups who have very different points of view." During her teaching years, she served as vice president of the Farmington Education Association for 10 years and was chairwoman of the Coordinating Council, which was the coordinating body for all the unions at Farmington Public Schools, including teachers, teacher aides, secretaries, maintenance personnel, cooks, and bus drivers. Mrs. Kleber sees several issues facing the school today, with the most pressing being mutual support among administration, staff, and members of the school board. "I am running, in part, because I am concerned about the level of cooperation between all the different groups at the school," she said. "A happy, comfortable place is ultimately good for the employees, but, most importantly, good for the students." Friction among adults at the school, she said, filters down to the students and can become a distraction in their education. "Students do well when everyone wants to be there," she said. "We must do what is best for the kids. Working together smoothly and openly as a group goes a long way towards bringing this about." Other issues facing the school today are being frugal with the school's budget, especially in a challenging economic era; meeting state requirements for graduation; staffing, which includes hiring, mentoring, supporting, and evaluating; continuing professional development for all members of the staff, administration, and board, whether they attend off-island programs or bring speakers to the Island; and meeting the special education needs. "We can't get a special education teacher; it's tough to get people," she said about the school's difficulty in filling the special education teacher position, which has been vacant since Christmas. "Improving communication within the school is the number one priority, but providing a good special education program is right up there, as well." Mrs. Kleber said the board has to begin preparing for the issues of tomorrow, which she believes are staffing and salary adjustments and housing incoming teachers. She also believes the school will have to continue advancing its curriculum, especially in arts and technology, and improve the preparation of students for life after high school. With no guidance counselor to go to for advice on advanced education, and because it is getting more challenging for high school graduates to get accepted into college, it is important that the board and school staff do what they can to help each student make the right choices, she said. "For those students who want to go to college, I see the school as doing a good job," she said. "I would hope the high school students are getting good guidance and support in the school selection, application preparation, and meeting timelines." The board has many ways to increase parental involvement in improving and promoting their children's education and in school board affairs, as well, partly by inviting people to make presentations before the board. "Different groups of students could be encouraged to make presentations to the board at each meeting," she said. "Because most of the board members work full-time, some of them may not be able to get to the school during school hours as I might be able to do, and so brief student presentations of work and achievement could be planned for each meeting, which would encourage parents, as well as students and community members, to attend. "Have some of the kids who went on the Honduras trip come to a meeting and tell the board about it," she added, "or have the preschoolers sing a song. Maybe the board can bring in players from the basketball team and recognize them for winning the postseason basketball tournament. Public recognition is always appreciated." Mrs. Kleber agrees with school board trustee Leanne Brodeur's suggestion to hold public comment at the end of the board's meeting agendas. "The public participation portion should be at the end of the meeting and more welcoming to new ideas, suggestions, and questions from the audience," she said. "The parents and community members should be encouraged to feel comfortable and free to address the board with issues, questions, and comments." BEN MOSLEY Education: 1984 graduate of Oregon-Davis Township High School in northern Indiana; completed farrier trade school training in Howell. Occupation: Professional farrier and stable manager for Grand Hotel. Family: He and LouAnn have four children, Ben, Karlena, Shayleen, and Shelbie. The girls are students at Mackinac Island Public School. Ben was graduated in 2006. The Mosleys are in the process of adopting three boys, ages two, three, and four. Involvement: Member of the Island Fire Department and water rescue team; has been a member of the school board for 12 years, serving as president for the past five years. Residency: He started working summers on the Island in 1984 and became a year-around resident in 1987. Ben Mosley points to his 12 years of experience on the school board as his qualification for reelection. As president of the board, he prides himself for keeping a level head and running a smooth meeting. Mr. Mosley supports the school's athletic teams and missed only one home game during the boys basketball and girls volleyball season. He said he is always available to the public and encourages residents to contact him with any school-related concerns or ideas. "I hope the public realizes that the board members are available," he said. "My phone number is in the book." Working as board president, Mr. Mosley said he tries to look at the whole picture of an issue first, rather than approaching it on a personal level. That way, he explained, decisions will be made based on rational thinking. Maintaining the school building and improving morale and communication among administration, staff, and board members are what Mr. Mosley feels are the top issues facing the board. Repairs to the roof and building exterior will be costly, he said, but are needed, and can be paid for from a healthy fund balance, that contains about $1 million. "The school needs serious work on the building, itself, and we have to eliminate those maintenance problems now so we can avoid any bigger problems in the future," said Mr. Mosley. As for dealing with conflicts between staff and administration, "Everybody has to realize that students are the reasons why they are there," he said. "We have one chance to educate these kids, and if we bring adult issues into the school, we're not giving these kids enough attention." Much of the tension, said Mr. Mosley, may be the lingering teacher contract negotiations, which he believes has created an "us-versus-them" attitude between the board and teachers. "We're all on the same team," he said. "We need to work as a team for the kids." Mr. Mosley would like to provide more vocational classes, such as carpentry, and expand the school's business classes. "Not every kid is going to be a college-bound student," he said. "A person can make a good living on trade skills, and I think the school can do something with that." He would like the school to establish apprenticeships for high school students interested in local business or trades. Finding a special education teacher and offering more foreign language classes are also important, he said. "Our biggest expense is personnel, but that is also the one area where we need more," he said. "I believe the school is doing a good job of cost saving. We have to continue to spend wisely as we look for more quality personnel." Retaining young families and solving the school's declining enrollment is a project the business community can help solve, according to Mr. Mosley. "The school could be used, or should be used more as a marketing tool for businesses for attracting employees," Mr. Mosley said. "I feel with a good school, it should actually draw people by itself. If it's rated high as a good school, people will look for it, and I believe we provide a good enough education for parents to want to come here. We just need to perhaps promote it better." The school needs to do a better job of encouraging parents to attend school board meetings, he believes. "With a more diverse crowd," he said, "here are more diverse answers or solutions for schoolrelated issues. We need to send out more letters, perhaps, or do a better job of publishing notices of meetings." Mr. Mosley also suggests the board purchase a gavel for the president. "I've been using my carpentry hammer," he laughed. "Perhaps the school's wood shop class could make one." |
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
)