Jeremy's blog

Ah, Spring break, one of my favorite times of year. I was very lucky this year to be able to share spring break with FISD students. While my day job continued as normal, the classes which I teach at Collin College as well as my own classes for my second masters were both on a short hiatus. This gave me ample time to breathe, enjoy some fun with my family, friends, and pets, and get caught up with campaign details.

To all those families which had the opportunity to spend some extra time together and all the students which received a well deserved rest, I hope that you had a great time and are ready to hit the ground running next week. Happy Spring Break!

If you have ever wondered if running for school board was a simple task, please give me a call. This has been a very educational and interesting process but also more time consuming than one might think. With all this said, all the hard work and effort I have put into this campaign was put back into perspective this week at the school board meeting.

As some of FISD’s highest achieving academic and athletic students were introduced by beaming principals, coaches, and teachers, a strong reminder of the role of the school board rolled over me. The magnitude of success represented in our students proves that community dedication to a strong educational system is truly the basis of positive growth. I watched as the parents of academic decathlon members, swimmers, divers, and wrestlers practically glowed with joy over the recognition their children were receiving. As I clapped for each of the students, I was also clapping for the parents, teachers, principals, and the entire school district. Our students’ success is our success. It is also our communities’ benefit to have such an amazing group of students and future leaders. Frisco’s future looks bright and I am excited to be a helping hand in this movement.

In my constant search to keep a finger on the pulse of the district, I asked a very well known elementary school principal to sit down with me today and discuss FISD from her perspective. I have known this principal for some time and have worked with her and the school's staff and students on a regular basis, and I knew that she would be a wealth of information, not only about life in a Frisco elementary school but also about the desires and fears of parents in her area. I was by no means disappointed by her openness and expertise.

She began by saying that she felt extremely lucky to have worked in such a great school district, and understands that the increase in our population will bring with it a much larger need for better awareness and planning. The diversity of the incoming families to Frisco present a chance for us all to learn more and reach higher to understand differences in religion, language, and culture. She feels that this will be the biggest challenge facing the district in the future. One of the most prevalent keys, in her mind, to FISD's continued success was the "small school" atmosphere. The students feel more relaxed and have more opportunities to succeed in extracurricular activities. The ability for students to try new things and develop new skills is multiplied when there are more options and alternatives. She also mentioned that the smaller schools help to make parents feel more welcomed. This increases parent-teacher interactions, parents' understanding of their child's schooling, and an increased desire to volunteer and create a "community" school.

She stated that the school board and FISD administrative staff has contributed to her success as a principal. She feels that they have always been very supportive and are always there when she needs assistance. She is very comfortable just picking up the phone and speaking with any of the administrative staff when an issue or concern arises. This type of openness and comfort have been a driving factor in hiring and maintaining excellent staff.

Her one concern on this subject was the openness and visibility of the entire board to the public. She mentioned that there are some members of the school board whom are very active and open to the public but that in general the public is not as aware of the school board and their role in maintaining FISD's excellence. She feels that if there were more board members who were active in the community and especially at FISD events, it would present the parents and community members with a more open idea of what the school board is and how it can be accessed.

This interview was exceptionally valuable for me in that it supported many of core beliefs about Frisco ISD. It also gave me excellent perspective from not only a well established and highly successful administrator but also a parent of FISD students. I have scheduled similar meetings with teachers and administrators at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as well as with staff working in specific fields such as Life Skills and the library. I look forward to all of these conversations and to the added knowledge and insight it will provide me.

As this is my first time seeking an elected position since my high school student government days, I am learning new things about myself, my friends, and my community. I began seriously considering running for school board last April through a serious of conversations with some good friends of mine whom are FISD employees. I have been in Education since college where I volunteered as a Reading teacher at the local Boys' and Girls' club and it has always been a vision of mine to be a part of a school board team and help foster the educational seeds of my community's young learners.

This process of being a candidate has been very interesting so far. I feel that this adventure is one of great personal growth and wanted to share my successes and shortcomings during this progression. I have always felt that no matter how great the destination, its the journey that you will always remember. Coming from someone who has backpacked across the Sahara Desert, I can tell you that many of my most fond memories have come from the "journey".

Thus, I am beginning this blog in order to record and put forth my trials and tribulations during this campaign in hopes that it will help to demonstrate to our community what it can be like to run for a school board position, to offer my fellow citizens the ability to gain a better understanding of my educational values, and to build a trust that is fundamental when entrusting someone with such an important job as a school board member.

So, with that said, enjoy the blog and let us begin the journey together.