4 running for Win-E-Mac School Board
Tue, 10/30/2018 - 8:46am
admin
1. Name, background—present job and office you are seeking? I’m Travis Kolden and am running for reelection to the Win-E-Mac school board. I’m a 2002 graduate of Win-E-Mac High School and a 2006 graduate of the University of North Dakota. After college I spent eight years in the United States Air Force as an Airfield Operations Officer. My wife Amy, our six children and I moved back to Erskine in 2014 and now I am currently co-owner of K & S Construction LLC in Erskine and am serving part time in the Air National Guard out of Duluth, MN.
2. Experience and/or qualifications you feel you have for the office you seek? After serving on the school board for four years now, I have a good understanding of the complexities of maintaining a strong support system for our teachers at the same time balancing a budget and using taxpayer money responsibly. I’ve seen firsthand the pride that our teachers have in teaching our children as my own children attend Win-E-Mac and look forward to watching my children grow in such a supportive and dedicated school.
3. What do you see as the top challenges facing the school district? The top challenges we face in the near future include upgrading and maintaining our facilities and ensuring our teachers have the resources needed to continue providing a high caliber education to our students.
4. What do you see as solutions to those challenges? We’ve identified these issues head on and are in the early stages of laying out fiscally responsible plans to ensure we maintain safe and efficient facilities. Win-E-Mac continues to be the top tier provider in the area in academics and we’ve seen a steady uptick in enrollment so we need to be mindful of supporting our teachers and giving them the resources needed to provide a great education for all students.
5. If future cuts become necessary, how and when would you make those cuts? If future cuts become necessary we are in a position to absorb some challenges fiscally. We have a truly talented leadership team at the school that we will work closely with to ensure we continue to stay focused on providing the greatest academic experience despite any challenges that may arise.
6. Open for any closing comments you wish to add- I’m proud to have been given the opportunity to serve on our school board and I’ve seen our students and staff accomplish many great things and respectfully ask for your vote to continue serving for another four years.
1. Name, background—present job and office you are seeking? Melissa Smeby, I live in Erskine with my husband, Carr, and two children, Kale and Taytum. I am a 2005 Win-E-Mac graduate. After high school, I earned a degree in Nursing and am currently back in school furthering my education. I am seeking a position on the Win-E-Mac School Board.
2. Experience and/or qualifications you feel you have for the office you seek? If elected, it would be my second term. I have served the previous 4 years on the board and I think that has helped me gain useful knowledge and awareness to the needs of our students, staff and communities. I feel that I can relate well to people and like to stay active and involved in our communities and school activities. One of the bigger projects I was involved with in my current term was being on the committee for the organizing, fundraising and building of our new playground.
3. What do you see as the top challenges facing the school district? Along with many other districts in the area, a main concern and challenge is keeping our school the safest we can for our students and staff. As always, enrollment can be a challenge. Keeping our numbers stable or growing is ideal and it seems we are headed in the right direction. Another challenge is making sure our high school students are getting adequately prepared for college or the workforce.
4. What do you see as solutions to those challenges? Working with our resources to guide us on any new school security techniques as well as implementing law enforcement within our building where and when administration see fit will give us the knowledge and reassurance in keeping our school safe. Our enrollment will take care of itself I feel as long as we are showcasing how great our school is. Being welcoming and warm to our students and parents will keep us going on the right track. We need to keep engaging our families and future families of Win-E-Mac. By offering challenging and skillful classes to our students, they will be allowed to feel prepared for the next chapter of their lives. Making sure our staff is able to take advantage of different continuing education courses is a major component to making this a success.
5. If future cuts become necessary, how and when would you make those cuts? Cuts are never something a school district wants to go through, however we know that with budgets and working with state dollars this is sometimes necessary. I believe every possible solution should be looked at before making a cut. Welcoming different ideas and opinions need to be heard and all pros and cons need to be weighed before a decision is made. While doing so we must keep the kids first.
6. Open for any closing comments you wish to add- Win-E-Mac is a great district and has many positive things happening right now. I am proud to have served our school over the past four years and would proudly do it again.
My name is Brad Sander I’m married to Melissa. We have 3 children, Carlie (17), Haley (14), and Brayden (11). For the last 18 years I have worked for my family owned business Sander Construction. I am currently an active member of the Fosston Areas Sportsmans Club and I also helped organize and am now the head coach of the of the Win-E-Mac trap shooting team. I’m running for school board because I would like to be an active member in the school district. I hope to learn the process and steps involved to make the changes needed throughout the school.
1. Name, background, present job, and office you are seeking? Joel H. Smeby. I am relatively new to the area, having served previously as a pastor in parishes in Winnipeg, MB, Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota. I grew up (thankfully) in small towns in Wisconsin and Iowa, went to college and graduate school in Decorah, IA, Norman, OK, St. Paul, MN.
Prior to my current calling, I worked in health care management, data processing, and computer analytics in California. I also worked there as a church musician. It was in California that I met my wife, Cynthia, who was working in human resources. We were married in Half Moon Bay, CA, both of our large families with all of our brothers and sisters present (13 siblings in all). My wife returned to college and earned a Masters in Occupational Therapy, working as an OT after that.
I am presently pastor at Rodnes church, next door to the Rydell wildlife refuge on County Road 210.
I am seeking the office of board member of the Win-E-Mac school board.
2. Experience and/or qualifications you feel you have for the office you seek? I have not direct experience working as a school board member. However, my wife and I both worked directly with school administration and teachers in Michigan, where we were tasked with "rescuing" a church pre-school and after-school care center that was housed in the public school. There was much to work to do with elevating the center to new standards and requirements published by the state of Michigan, and also with the public school staff in sharing space, library materials, school playgrounds and support services of the school--sometimes contentious, but often progressing to good working relationships.
Also in Michigan we organized a group of approximately 400 high school students, who came from all over the Midwest to live in the public school facilities (during the school summer break). Their mission was to serve those in a 30-mile radius with needs for housing rehabilitation, painting, minor construction and repair. This group was housed and fed at the school. They also participated in concerts in the school gymnasium during the evenings. Again, lots of collaboration and negotiations with school administration, support staff, and community folks, the county sheriff staff, and more.
I have served (and chaired) many task forces in the work environment as well as church and school activities. Having been involved, more than once, in rather divisive situations, I understand the need for common goals and visions, written procedures for deliberations and decision-making, and orderly rules of engagement. Communications and forgiveness, keys to the smooth running of a church, are also keys to service in the secular realms.
3. What do you see as the top challenges facing the school district? The same challenges we all face in this constantly changing world--but, for the schools in particular, how to maintain high quality education, smooth relations between and amongst staff, fiscal responsibility, and collaboration and communications with the surrounding populations.
I believe we have to constantly challenge the status quo, always looking for ways to improve--in curriculum, in training of teachers and staff, in monitoring finances, in athletics and physical education. A school board ought to be challenged to collaborate and support the administration, to support teachers and their staff, but, also, to look to the future-sometimes aggressively.
Schools are often the sole souce for many students in issues of morality, respect for all people, learning how to compromise where disputes arise, and much more. Anyone who leaves a school ought to be graduated as an outstanding citizen of the world, as well as one who knows a thing or two (hopefully much more) about math, science, sinking baskets, playing the drums, etc.
This school has a well-earned reputation as a good (perhaps really good?) school. I will listen and converse with people (students, teachers, parents, community leaders, etc.) as time goes on to find ways to keep it in that category. The futures of these small communities in the area are planted in the public school.
4. What do you see as solutions to those challenges? Listening and collaborating in efforts to face shared challenges and initiatives of the school and the surrounding communities. A single person's solutions, minus the shared vision and outcomes, is often (always?) the worst of the lot.
5. If future cuts become necessary, how and when would you make those cuts?
It's difficult to answer not knowing the details: how much of a cut, why, how long. Assuming all programs of the school are valuable (is basketball inherently less valuable than calculus, for instance?) I would hope that all areas of the school would participate in "belt-tightening" or whatever was necessary to effect the cuts. I made it through high school because of the music and the English teachers, even though I was a frustrated football player who couldn't make the team. My "most admired" teacher in the Michigan school was the shop teacher, who turned out wonderfully talented students.
Assuming deeper cuts would be necessary, affecting one or more departments or programs, some collaborations with other schools could be a temporary solution. Guided work-study programs (learning the agri-business environment or home-building or retail commerce, etc.) has been a solution in some places.
As with any sorts of changes, lots of communication, lots of research, lots of creative thinking is necessary. We are obligated to inform any persons affected as to how, why, how much, when, etc. I have been involved in many such difficult decisions, and found that it is extremely important that those who are negatively affected know exactly what the options were, what the trade-offs were--and that these persons hopefully got "on board" with the decisions from the group.
6. Open for any closing comments you wish to add? I am eager to serve the residents of the communities and the rural areas of this county. I love working with the young and am passionate about the future. Education is an extremely important key to raising up persons to maturity as citizens of this great county, in enlivening its communities of business and commerce, in maintaining and enhacing its agricultural industries, in supporting the recreational opportunities of the area, in supporting families, and in caring for the indigent and the elderly.