Candidates

Greetings! My name is Megan Judy, and I am running for Drummond’s Local School Council (LSC). I’ve been a member of the LSC since 2013, and Chair since 2016. I’ve been a fierce advocate for public education in Chicago since my son entered CPS in 2010 at age three following Early Intervention. My original decision to run for LSC years ago was to advocate for special needs children, and that still drives me to this day. But time has taught me that what benefits one child benefits all kids, and the fight we engage in today paves the way for parents tomorrow. For the last seven years, I’ve been an active and tenacious advocate for all of our children. It would be my honor to continue to serve the Drummond community, to use my experience to help inform the next two years, and to help shape the future of Drummond for every family.

¡Saludos! Mi nombre es Megan Judy, y me postulo para el Consejo Escolar Local de Drummond (LSC). He sido miembro del LSC desde 2013 y presidente desde 2016. He sido un defensor feroz de la educación pública en Chicago desde que mi hijo ingresó a CPS en 2010 a los tres años después de la intervención temprana. Mi decisión original de postularme para LSC hace años fue abogar por los niños con necesidades especiales, y eso todavía me impulsa hasta el día de hoy. Pero el tiempo me ha enseñado que lo que beneficia a un niño beneficia a todos los niños, y la lucha que entablamos hoy allana el camino para los padres mañana. Durante los últimos siete años, he sido un defensor activo y tenaz de todos nuestros niños. Sería un honor para mí seguir sirviendo a la comunidad de Drummond, usar mi experiencia para ayudar a informar los próximos dos años y ayudar a dar forma al futuro de Drummond para cada familia.

Hi Drummond Community! I have been serving on the LSC this past term and I am re-applying for a second round. During my time on the LSC I was able to introduce "Trauma sensitive" or "Trauma informed" approaches and connect our lovely school to the Chicago Teachers Union: Quest Center's programming:

https://www.ctuf.org/questcenter/pd/. Staff will have the experience of working with the Quest center this upcoming year. I have two children at Drummond, one is in 5th grade and the other in 2nd grade. We have been here since 2012 and involved in many fundraisers in addition to my volunteering with the LSC. In the past I have focused on making sure that everyone, no matter what their income is, has equal opportunities here at Drummond and I will continue to focus on this if elected.

I am a certified somatic experiencing trauma therapist, certified art therapist and licensed clinical professional counselor. I currently work for Cook County hospital as a counselor and trauma informed trainer, in addition to that I run my own private practice in Chicago specializing in trauma and recovery from trauma. My passion is making sure everyone feels supported in our unique community. We are very lucky to have such a beautiful community here at Drummond and it has been an honor to serve on the LSC. Thank you for reading!

I am interested in continuing to serve on the LSC for Drummond Montessori. I have been a member of the LSC since February 2019 when the committee accepted my application for a vacant seat. I am a parent of a fifth grader and preschooler at Drummond and an 8th grader at another school. We have been a Drummond family since 2015 and are heavily invested in the community. I have served as a room parent at both the Elementary 1 and Elementary 2 level, have been a troop leader for a girl scout troop at Drummond, managed the school supply orders for all levels for three years, successfully started the gardening committee, and have volunteered for numerous classroom and schoolwide projects and events.

Professionally, I am a certified Secondary Science Teacher with five years of teaching experience. For several years, I have worked for Northwestern University supervising student teachers. I know the ins and outs of education both from the standpoint of a teacher and as a parent. I have personal and professional experience with writing and implementing IEPs and 504s and know the struggles and strengths of diverse learners.

If voted into an LSC parent position, I will work to continue to strengthen the community at Drummond and advocate for the needs of all students and families. We plan to be a Drummond family until June of 2029 so I have a vested interest in making Drummond a great place for students, faculty, staff, and families.

Hi Friends and welcome new ones!

I am a single parent of two girls, Eleanor (10yo) and Gwendolyn (7yo), this is our family’s eighth year at Drummond. We won the lottery and my older daughter entered Drummond at three, the youngest kid in the school. I still remember that mixed bag of parent feelings on that first day when she turned around and simply walked into the school. I have grown to love both Drummond and the Montessori method. I feel fortunate to be a part of the Drummond community, it really did and still does feel like WINNING a lottery.

In our initial week, I volunteered for my first time. Educating and Volunteering have deep roots in my family, and my definition of family quickly grew to include Drummond. For the past seven years, I have been very deeply involved in all aspects of our school, and as so I have become very well informed as to the interests and concerns of our community. Parenting is laborious yet wonderful, life is already challenging for busy families. Single parents, low-income families, and those that have Diverse Learners have to work especially hard and the current challenges of distance learning serve to exacerbate work/life/school issues. My greatest community concern is that our school works for everybody. I am compassionate... as well as advocating for my ideals I discuss and represent similar and even oppositional concerns to my own, everything is clearer in the sunlight.

Two years ago I decided that I would run for a seat on the LSC proper once things settled down in my life.

I mean…

who knew we would be here.

With the goal of ‘learning the LSC’ in mind, I have attended every in-person LSC meeting but one in the past two years, more often than not, the only spectator-contributor.

The LSC has four tasks:

-approving the CIWP (https://tinyurl.com/ciwpdef)

-approving the alignment of the budget to the CIWP

-evaluating our Principal

-Principal selection or renewing our Principal’s contract

For the past three years I have served on two of the LSC’s sub-committees, the Principal Evaluation Committee, and the CIWP committee.

On the PTO I have served:

-as the chair of the PTO’s Kiss-n-Go, at dropoff I volunteer every morning that school is in-person

-I have been a Room Parent in every of my daughter’s EC and E1 classrooms

-attended most field trips

-volunteered at most PTO events

As a Contractor, I have used my skills at Drummond to:

-rehab the middle school classrooms

-paint and patch various parts of the Drummond school

-paint the (colourful) entry doors

-repair playground equipment

-fix cabinetry and furniture in the classrooms

-build projects for auctions and events at the school

I am currently fabricating Montessori learning materials for every one of our 3yo and 4yo students to take home to facilitate distance learning.

As a Technology-Enthusiast:

-for the past three years I have organized and run ‘Hour of Code’ (http://code.org) for the entire 3rd through 6th grades

-I teach a weekly coding class as a free afterschool elective (when school is in-person).

I feel that my deep involvement at Drummond makes me particularly qualified to compile and sort ideas and opinions and to bring informed data to the LSC.

I hope that you will consider voting for me to join the LSC,

/Richard Bell