Age: 43 

Time in the Verde Valley: “I was born and raised in Sedona. It has been a great joy to raise my own family in this wonderful community, surrounded by family and lifelong friends.” 

Background: “I am a property manager with Rentals of Sedona.” 

Q: Why are you qualified to serve on the board?

A: “I am the only candidate running with school-age children. This lends a unique and valuable perspective to board discussions and eventual decisions. “My son attends West Sedona School, so I have firsthand experience of what it is like to be one of the families our district serves. I have access to social situations where I can ask parents and students questions about their experiences at our schools. “Often, I am met with open and honest answers and given perspectives that help guide my outlook and how I choose to contribute to board discussions. I think having grown up in Sedona also makes me uniquely qualified, as I have a love, appreciation and devotion to our schools, our teachers past and present and our students that only an alumnus knows.” 

Q: What steps would you like to take to increase enrollment in SOCSD?

A: “Having positive word of mouth and a strong reputation is critical to attracting new families and students. SOCSD must foster and grow our greatest strengths and unique offerings and continue to cultivate our advantages. “One of our greatest strengths is our cultural diversity. If we had a strong Spanish program at WSS, we could be teaching a second language to our non-Spanish speaking students at an age when language is most easily learned, and students would be excited to learn and practice with their friends who are already fluent in Spanish. “Many families I speak with are aware of the advantages being fluent in a second language is, and have told me that WSS having a strong Spanish program would be very attractive. Another unique offering is our STEM accreditation at WSS. “We must nurture and invest in this program, as well as professional development for our teachers, so that our students come home with stories about all the interesting and exciting projects they are working on, experiments conducted and instruments and tools they work with. “Another advantage we must cultivate and invest in is offering a wide range of music, art and theatre classes.” 

Q: How can the district better serve the needs of its English language learners?

A: “An additional way to better serve our ELL is to provide Spanish classes to all our non-Spanish speaking teachers and students. “When my son started school at WSS, I was so disappointed that he was not learning Spanish that I volunteered to speak Spanish with the students. “The experience taught me many lessons, but the most significant thing I witnessed was the way the Spanish speakers would light up, how delighted they were in knowing the right answers and helping their peers to learn Spanish. “I could see their pride in their home language being taught at school, and in their peers wanting to learn and practice with them. “Offering resources to our non-Spanish speaking teachers would be equally beneficial, as it will help to bridge the divide sooner and make communication and the transition to English speaker faster, easier and more comfortable for our learners.”

Q: What additional public outreach does the board need to do with regard to the former Big Park Community School?

A: “Currently our board president and superintendent attend monthly meetings at the Big Park Regional Coordinating Council to keep the residents abreast of all the happenings regarding the former school. This meeting can be attended over Zoom and is open to the community.” 

Q: How do you think the voters should vote with regard to the question to have the option to sell the former Big Park Community School and why?

A: “The board has put the option to sell the former school on the ballot so that we may take our direction from the community.” 

School Board Election

There are four candidates running for three seats on the Sedona-Oak Creek School District Governing Board; incumbent President Randy Hawley, challenger Sam Blom and incumbents April Payne and David Price.