my name is carried on or and i'm running for one of the two three year terms for school committee in the april third election i am running because i believe that we are at a critical juncture for the schools in belmont in the near future decisions will be made that will impact generations of belmont children and families as the high school building project proceeds i want to use my knowledge and experience as a committed professional k to twelve educator a longtime town meeting member and as a parent to help guide the direction of decisions that will affect not only the students in grades seven to twelve but also the younger students whose school experiences will be significantly impacted by reconfiguration of the grade levels i'd like to tell you about my background i've lived in belmont for seventeen years i was first elected to town meeting in two thousand and seven and i've held a seat on the town meeting since then first in precinct five and then increasing six where my family now  i am an engaged citizen who's attended and participated in many community and town government meetings on a variety of issues i'm a middle school english teacher with a masters in middle school english education from leslie university i've taught seventh grade english  winchester since two thousand and four and prior to that i taught and hang on in melton i've served on many professional committees in my capacity as a teacher including english curriculum development and steering committee the acceptance and inclusion committee where i was chairperson for several years and as communications director of the emergency incident management team at my school i also served as a seventh grade team leader for over ten years i'm a regular sunday school at first her chin all of these professional and volunteer experiences have given me many opportunities to hone my ability to listen well to others and to work effectively as part of a team focused on achieving goals for the common good now that you know a bit about who i am i'd like to share more about my priorities as a member of the school committee i'm a strong proponent of the new seven to twelve campus i want to make sure that as a town we have transparent and pharo discussions about how to best meet the educational and developmental needs of all students in belmont as we navigate this transition as we move through the building process we also need to focus on the sustainability of school infrastructure and aim for zero net energy buildings as well as being mindful of keeping costs down to the greatest extent possible as a district we need to aim for more than just go down costs course we need to prepare our students to think critically express themselves clearly work collaboratively and communicate with all types of people we need to give them tools to be flexible as they enter a work environment they will have jobs we can even imagine at the moment as a classroom teacher was sixteen years of teaching experience i also have a strong interest in developing ways to support teachers as they encourage our students to be engaged informed citizens in a participatory democracy and to understand how they can effect positive change in the world we need a coordinated district wide anti bias curriculum in an increasingly fragmented world with growing disparity between the haves and have nots we need to give teachers the resources to help students they develop empathy for people across all areas of difference in effective school committee member needs not only passion and ideas but also the experience and commitment to translate that passion into action while in high school in milton i had the privilege of serving for two years as the student representative to the school committee that experience shaped my own career path as a teacher and sparks my decision to first run for town meeting in milton when i was twenty one i've long held the goal of serving on the school committee again since those early experiences i've spent sixteen years as a committed classroom teacher which is informed by understanding of how classrooms and schools operate as a town meeting member in belmont for over a decade i have a depth of understanding of the complexity of belmont's political and financial issues these experiences have all prepared me to be a well informed and effective school committee member and give me a unique voice to contribute to the belmont schools thank you