It's Official!

Following the November election, I have continued to attend the school committee meetings, to learn about the current issues and to introduce myself to parents, staff and administrators. Today I took the oath of office and became an official Agawam School Committee member! I am honored, proud and looking forward to working for my community to maintain, enhance and enrich our children's educational opportunities.  On Tuesday, January 10th at 7pm I will take my seat with the other members of the School Committee for the very first time. I encourage people to participate in this and all future meetings. I look forward to advocating for education and I promise to do my very best to listen, support and work together with members of my community. Thank you for voting for me! Thank you for supporting me! And thank you for continuing to reach out to introduce yourselves to me!

"Helping Children Shine"

There are now 6 candidates for 6 school committee seats and I am one of them. I am the only new school committee candidate who will be on the ballot on election day in November. I have heard people say, "Oh, wow! You won't even have to campaign!" I respond by affirming that I AM going to be campaigning. I want to listen, to learn and to allow people a chance to get to know who I am and why I want to be a member of the school committee. I invite you to join my team and to consider supporting me as I become educated about the politics, the budget process and the ways that Agawam Public Schools can continue to provide the best educational opportunities to all students. You can follow me on Facebook (link provided on this page), read the blog as I update it and I encourage you to leave questions, comments and feedback. I will work diligently to "Help Children Shine"!

Budget process

I will be the first one to admit that I don't understand "politician-speak". How does the town of Agawam ask for 1.9 million in cuts to the school budget, and today many are cheering because the end result was only 1.3 million? Where did that "extra" 250k come from and why now? I wish that the gaming and the feuding between the councils would cease and that more transparency and communication existed; I said as much during public speak time. That said, I felt that the City Council's response was vastly different from past years and that they were listening; kudos to Councilor Letallier for her strong advocacy and determined line of questioning regarding the "surplus" of funds. I am appreciative of all that Dr. C. and the School Committee did on behalf of our children, but had this line of questioning occurred earlier in the process, would we have come out further ahead than 250k? I don't know.

I am determined to continue to listen and to learn. I am committed to advocating for all children. I have now had the opportunity to speak twice during public meetings and feel more educated and confident because of the time I have taken to listen (to parents, teachers, principals & politicians). But there is so much more to learn! The budget process alone is overwhelming to figure out and to understand its complexities.

My goal is to keep on listening... I want to spend my summer doing The Listening Tour. I want to hear from parents, teachers, citizens of Agawam, children... anyone who wants to share a story, a concern, ask a question or educate me about what YOU think are the needs of our school community.

Feel free to start now and leave a comment: a question, concern, story, anything! I promise I will read them with an open mind and do my best to move diligently forward advocating on behalf of my children & your children.

Gratitude for Donations to the Tag Sale Fundraiser

On Saturday, June 11th, I woke up at 4:30am and it was pouring rain. I thought, "Oh no! What do I do now?" My campaign team and I had spent countless hours planning an event so that I could meet some people in town and raise campaign funds. The day before the tag sale, a willow tree fell across my front lawn in a thunderstorm. But despite the thunderstorm, the fallen tree and the pouring rain on the morning of the event, my team looked at me and said, "Yes, we can do this! We WILL do this!" and we carried on. I'll admit to moments of thinking that we'd be standing alone in the rain wondering why we had not postponted this event. But then the cars began to arrive. As I reflect upon the moments of last week, I realize what a community this town of Agawam is and it became an excellent reminder of how people come together to make things happen. My neighbors gathered to clear the fallen tree. My campaign team was creative and inspiring to work alongside. Friends, neighbors and people who believe in my campaign showed up and supported us, making donations to my campaign. To the many who supported this event, I offer to you my gratitude. During the moments that I was surrounded by the children of this town, I was reminded of why I am committed to running for School Committee... for the children & for their futures. Their smiles provided the sunshine on the rainy day. I'm proud to live in Agawam and I'm proud to be running for School Committee to help these children keep on shining!

Announcing My Candidacy for School Committee

When I was little I used to dream about being a Mom. I couldn’t wait to join the PTO, be a Scout Leader and have my camera ready to take thousands of pictures of my children’s achievements. I am now a devoted wife and mother. We are blessed with three amazing sons. I grew up in Feeding Hills and graduated from Agawam High School. My husband and I made the choice to move our family back to Agawam because of the sense of community and the educational opportunities available in this town. My sons will be the third generation of my family to attend Clifford M. Granger Elementary School!

I am the President of the Granger School PTO, an elected member of the Granger School Council, a Den Leader of Agawam Pack 77 and a willing volunteer to support our children’s activities. As a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, I learned to speak up and to strongly advocate. I am running for a seat on the Agawam School Committee because I would like to strongly advocate for the children of this town. Education is an avenue to success and teachers are invaluable as mentors, creating lasting impressions on their students. I most certainly remember many of mine!

It is my hope to bring some creative ideas, enhance the communication and discussion and to ensure that the children of this and future generations receive the best educational opportunities that this town can provide.

I am a parent, not a politician. I “Put Children First” every day.