The Start of a Longer Journey

For the past four months this campaign process has been a bit like planning a wedding.  There's lots of busy work, lots of meetings. Some things go well, others are a little bumpy.....but overall, you're focused on the invitations, the DJ, the florist, the caterers, etc.  In fact, the whole event becomes a bit of a whirlwind and not surprisingly, most people get swept up in it.  Two days later, the gifts have been opened and most of the guests have gone home (except Aunt Phyllis, she always overstays her welcome).  The crazy thing is that after the cacophany and the excitement, you realize that you just got married and now the hard part begins.

That's pretty much how this feels right now.  It's been a long summer, with a sprint to the finish.  The party's over and now it's time to get to work.  We have so many varied issues facing our district, it's hard to know exactly where to begin.  It won't be easy, but I'm grateful that I've been given this opportunity to help to shape the schools our community deserves.  I want to be able to look back at this moment and recognize it as the time when we decided to move ahead to tackle these challenges and to commit to equity in facilities and programming that would give each student the tools they need to achieve their highest potential.

I've met so many great people throughout this summer and learned so much from each of them.  I am blessed to have so many resources to rely upon to help me really understand an issue and think about it from as many angles as possible.  I couldn't have done it without you.  We need to focus all of that positive energy and excitement away from the campaign and into the schools themselves....of course, I suspect I'm preaching to the choir. 

I've very much enjoyed getting to know the other candidates throughout this race.  After the last month's festivities I'm going through a bit of withdrawal, actually.  This whole experience reminds me of The Real World where nine unlikely strangers decided to run for school board. Thankfully for the most part no one stopped being nice and decided to get real.  Perhaps we'll have to schedule a reunion tour.

I am looking forward to working with Chris, Sally, Jeff, Tuyet, Patti and Marla.  I think we'll make a great team.  We won't agree on everything, but I have a great respect for all of you and I look forward to hopefully earning your respect and trust as well.  Let's collectively roll up our sleeves and get to work.  We have a golden opportunity to dictate our own future and there's a lot of work to do. I'm excited about our chances to ensure that all parts of the district begin to see tangible change and that all decisions are driven by a desire to heal the whole district and help every single student.  

Last, but certainly not least, I wish to thank the 8733 people who voted.  I've written before that my grandfather's greatest fear was apathy of American voters.  While 12% of registered voters doesn't sound that big, it's really quite impressive for a school board election.  By growing the pie, we increased the turnout and reached more people about the issues than ever before.  Record turnout means record interest.  Again, we need to harness that enthusiasm.

So....here we go, folks. The party is over, the gifts have been opened and now, because of you.....I've got a lot of thank you notes to write. Cheers!