Laura Fowle

FAQ

What experience will I bring to the Whitnall School Board?

I bring a strong background in education. As a classroom teacher, I taught English-Language Arts and Social Studies. After earning my Master's Degree in Educational leadership, I served in various leadership capacities that include: instructional coach at all levels, dean of students, and curriculum coordinator. I understand the work of continuous improvement, strategic goal-setting through SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound), academic standards, how to use instructional data to meet goals, progress monitoring, board policy as a firm guideline to District practices, professional development, roles/responsibilities within a school district, as well as instructional pedagogy (the study of different teaching methods) and really solid classroom instruction. My strong background in education will allow me insight to ask the right questions as I advocate for all stakeholders.

What is my personal connection/history with the Whitnall School District?

I have been a community member of the Whitnall School District since 2016. I am a Whitnall parent of an Edgerton Elementary student. Further, I was employed by the Whitnall School District from the start of the 2017-18 school year through the end of the 2021-22 school year. As an employee and a community member, I always approached my work with the mindset of pride. I took great pride in my work as not only would my collaborative advocating, attention to detail, and support lend itself to improvement of the system overall, moreover, that improvement would positively impact my own daughter, her friends, the entire student body, and community at large. At the same time, I always respected the division between my role as part of the professional staff and my role as a parent - this is something I often stated. When my parent hat was on, I did not leverage the insight I had as an employee. When working on behalf of the District, I did not leverage my role as a parent. Now that I am simply a parent and community member, I have a deep desire to continue advocating on behalf of my own family as well as the community. This work is important! While I do have a great deal of insight to the inner-workings of the District, if elected, I do not want to assume anything. I wish to be a school board member who listens to understand the here and now, ask the right questions for clarification of things that I need more background on, and have tough (but important) conversations as needed. I want to represent the beliefs and views of our community while advocating for a great school system. Every system needs people that bring varying perspectives in order to have proper oversight.

What is the critical difference between me and the other candidates seeking this post?

While the candidate pool has an impressive amount of qualifications, my background is unique. My Masters level work specifically prepared me for roles within educational leadership. I understand how schools and districts function, can zoom out to consider the big picture, critically analyze all data, strategically plan, etc. While people are hired by the District to do this work, I know what goes into it because this is what I do for a living. I understand that the work is never done, critical conversations are always being had, failures happen, reflection is critical, and clarifying conversations about the decisions being made are crucial. In all leadership roles, transparency is a crucial component to building trusting and lasting relationships. My education and experience affords me a deep level of understanding, and I wish to use that to benefit our District and community.

In what way has the current board (and school board members seeking re-election) failed the community?

It's important to remember that a school board does not work for the district, or district leaders. The function of a school board is to represent the will of the community. I see a great deal of complacency in taking the information shared by the district at face value but not always seeking to understand the big picture. We often hear, "I will defer to the experts." While Whitnall is a good district, there is much work to be done. The public-facing qualitative and quantitative data shows very specifically where there is room to grow. The current board has proven to show a great deal of groupthink in that the desire to have cohesion limits the desire to provide different perspectives, critique a position, ask critical questions, or express an unpopular opinion. It's OK to do all of these things, and in fact, this is how districts learn and grow. What I find troubling is that when there is dichotomy between board members and/or district leadership, it is viewed as taboo or a retaliation against the WSD Board, the District Administrator, and the District at large. School board meetings should not be one-sided conversations, and an effective board is there to do more than simply give a stamp of approval. Collaborative commitment, conversation, and tough conversations can all be attributed to growth. All ideas, board members, and district personnel should be able to respectfully work together for the greater good. The desire of the current board to have complete group cohesion drives out good decision-making and problem solving that is crucial for our growth. This is why I am focusing on academic achievement, staff retention, and opportunities for students as my platform for advocacy.

What do I believe about education, curriculum, and student learning?

I believe that every student deserves to be motivated, challenged, safe, and included through development of strong student-staff mentor relationships and rigorous instruction using board-approved curriculum. I believe a student's basic needs must be met before they can focus on their learning and growth. This means that every teacher is building strong relationships, and as a District, we should be fighting to keep our teachers who have created close bonds with students and families. I believe curriculum should help students reach the benchmarks of each content area's standards as identified by the state and adopted by the Whitnall School Board. I believe teacher's should provide engaging, rigorous instruction that provides students the opportunity to learn and explore the facts but also the space to form their own thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. I believe in cultivating curiosity as a catalyst for learning. Ultimately, as a whole, we should focus on developing students to be ready for what's next, and to do so, provide an ample amount of opportunities to explore various avenues during their years at Whitnall.

What is the best piece of advice or biggest lesson learned in my professional career?

The best advice I was ever given was to remember what I value, and write it down so that I can always base my decisions and actions around those beliefs. I value strong relationships, honesty, follow-through, transparency, and empathy. Because I know with certainty what I care most about, I always strive to align my actions with those ideals. When forming relationships, I take the time to listen in order to grow context of how I can best serve. I show empathy because I believe it matters that people feel seen, valued, and understood. I always try to empower people, as building both capacity and confidence is a major factor to strong relationships. To build trust, I am honest in all of my conversations and actions. When I say or commit to something, I follow-through. In other words, my outward matches my inward. I don't believe in having a hidden agenda, and as a result of that, transparency is important to me. Because I do these things, I take pride in the fact that I operate based on my values at all times.

What I want you to know about me is...

I am a listener, an empath, a learner, and a doer. I will probably never be the loudest or most boisterous voice in the room, but that doesn't mean that I am not willing to have tough conversations, ask hard questions, or fight the status quo. I am quite reflective of all I do which affords me confidence, the ability to be open-minded, and ever-compassionate. I am a team player who prefers to solve problems through collaboration, logical and critical thinking. I prefer encouragement over force and dominance. I have enough humility to say when I don't know something yet am humble enough to understand that I cannot possibly have all the answers, yet determined enough to seek out information that will help me figure it out. I am motivated by challenge and tasks that involve deep thinking. I value people, first and foremost - each person's uniqueness, perspective, ideas, and ideals. I believe that the best way to achieve great things is to find ways to work together.

Apart from who I am as an educator and leader, I am a mom and wife. My family gives me drive and purpose! I am incredibly proud of my daughter who competes on a pre-professional dance team, and her dance endeavors take us all around the country! Nothing is more fun to me than seeing her work towards personal goals to achieve success. (There's a lot of life lessons learned in that.) Mostly we just enjoy spending time as a family (along with our dog, Teddy)!

I care deeply about the student experience in Whitnall, and I will always advocate for the greater good.