My Story

My parents enrolled me in a private school in Kindergarten.  I don’t remember much about my first day of school but I do have fond memories of Kindergarten.  I remember the fun parts like crazy hair day, our Thanksgiving lunch and dressing up as Native Americans and pilgrims, show and tell, Christmas crafts, and learning how to tell the time.

Now telling time was not in the Kindergarten curriculum.  I taught myself how to tell time to figure out when I was going to be pulled for my resource time.  My parents were told that year I needed to be tested because I was starting to get behind.  They took me to Meredith Dunn and the school psychologist said I had an IQ of 92 but the right side of my brain was not communicating with the left side of my brain.  My synapses were not connecting properly. Therefore, I required additional help at school for an additional fee from my parents.  I was taken out of the general classroom for remediation.  

When I entered the 1st grade, the time increased and continued to increase.   The stress of school began to mount as I was falling behind because I was missing core instruction.  Then it was recommended the “tutoring” I was receiving wasn’t enough.  The new recommendation was to continue tutoring and repeat first grade again.  Like most parents, mine followed the recommendations of educators. My second 1st-grade teacher finally said, “Put her in public school.” And they did. 

I started the next year at Tully Elementary School and I started to thrive.  I spent the entire day in the general classroom and I had no stressful Bible verses to memorize.  My teacher filled me with positive praise and my confidence began to shoot through the roof.  My achievement went up and I made the honor roll.  The girl whose brain was “connecting” right made the honor roll! This momentum helped me, a shy, mousy girl, come out of her shell.  My journey wasn’t without tears and I did struggle at times.  But the struggles could have been so much worse had I stayed at that private school.  I probably would not have learned how to persevere, instead, I probably would have shut down and learned to cope just to “get by.”  Instead, my self-confidence and perseverance have made me who I am today with the help of that teacher who told my parents to put me in public school.  

I understand not everyone is as lucky, or privileged as I was.  In fact, I watched my teacher single out the black students in my classroom.  Where I would get the support I needed, I noticed others weren't because of the color of their skin.  When we were given free time after completing an assignment, I would spend my time sitting with the students who needed support and helping them myself.  

My vision is to be a leader who supports districts and schools that foster self-confidence in every student.  Our job is to serve students and their families no matter who they are, how they come to us, and what they bring to school.  We will also give each child due process who shows signs of struggle.  No quick assumptions will be made without significant data to support next-step decisions.