 Newaygo School Board candidates answer questions
With an octet of contenders vying for three positions on the Newaygo School Board we at N3 thought it might be a good idea to give voters a little glimpse at the candidates and perhaps provide a forum for prospective board members to share their views. We polled some of the local citizenry on what they would like to know about those who are running and came up with 14 questions. These were sent to each of the candidates and these are their replies. This is a lengthy read to be sure, but we believe a worthy one. And please take time to vote on Tuesday. -Near North Now Phil Ottinger What motivates you to run for the board? My motivation to run for school board is a lifelong passion to help young people achieve their highest potential in life. Being involved in youth sports for parts of five decades proves this passion is heart felt. How long have you in the district? What school activities have you been involved in? I have been in the School District my entire life. I have been primarily involved in youth athletics. I believe athletics is a tool of education and I used athletics to teach young people the lessons of life What skills to you bring to the board? Leadership Patrol Leader in Combat USMC. Ability to make tough decisions. Discipline. Hard Work. Problem solving. Working for a fortune 500 Company in a leadership capacity I had to make cost effective and efficiency decisions every day. That is what I would do on School Board try to give out kids the best education in the most cost efficient way. What is your own experience with public education? As a student at Newaygo. As a parent of three children and two Grandchildren at Newaygo. As a School Bus Driver at Newaygo. And as a coach of youth at Newaygo. I believe seeing the landscape of Newaygo education from all the different angles gives a great view to make informed decisions that go to the heart of the community and kids. What do you see as your responsibilities as a board member? Be a team player on School Board. Having my own voice and views but unite with the consensus of views to go forward with the decisions that must be made for the best interests of our community and children. What do you see as the priorities for the coming years? To make sure that we are giving our children the best education with the greatest cost efficiency with for our community. I have a wealth of experience in efficiency and cost. Everything we do must be looked at through the lens of what is best for the kids and subscribe to the Motto of Whatever it takes. What do you see as strengths in the school district? Our whole community is a strength. Our School board, our teachers, our business leaders, and most of all our unity as I have seen throughout my life we reach out to others in time of crisis like a big family. What do you see as the primary challenges ahead? Costs will always be a challenge in the future. We can not give the children what they need if we do not address the costs of getting what they need. We must be proactive and forward thinking on a priority basis of where we have to be in 10 years and what we need to do to get there. What is your vision for NPS? My vision for NPS has no limits. To be the shining light on the hill that all public schools would be trying to measure up to in education. Efficiency, quality of teachers, quality of leaders. That we would produce the most educated, motivated, well mannered and behaved young people on Graduation night, so they could achieve the goals and dreams. How should teacher performance be measured? Teacher performance should be measured like I was in a Fortune 500 Company and like the students they teach. Performance is not guesswork it is setting a standard for our teachers and making sure they hit that standard. Describe your experience with conflict resolution and consensus building. This is perhaps where I have my greatest experience because this has been my life, from USMC, elder in my church, Union leader and Supervisor in Fortune 500 Company. I have been on all side of the spectrum and found consensus and unity in moving the ball forward towards the goal. This is a skill that you must have to be a good school board member. As a board member making key decisions who might you seek advice from? I would seek people who had been there before. Former educators, school board members, Superintendents principles. I would also include parents because I believe they have great views that could be very helpful. I don’t view a school board as its us and them. It is all of us together can make the best decisions. At some point schools may need to go to the community and ask for additional resources i.e. bond, millage. How would you help enlist support in the community for an initiative like this? The most important thing to get support is to be upfront with information to community that the need is really a need. If you do that Newaygo has always been supportive because this community wants what is best for their kids. If we look at the updates recently the school board has done this and the support was there. What book you’ve read has influenced you the most? The Bible. The teachings and principles in the Bible are what guides my life. Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington and most of our countries great leaders claimed this book as a great influence to them. I subscribe to their thinking and know from experience that it works. Artemisia Clark What motivates you to run for the board? Primarily my deep interest in keeping Newaygo an attractive place for families to raise their children. A strong school system is a key attractor for families. The more families that are attracted to our great town the better economic structure for our business and services. My hope is that my daughter grows up to love Newaygo as much as I do and that love can be fostered through a good school experience. How long have you in the district? What school activities have you been involved in? I have lived in Newaygo School District most of my life. I am a K-12 Newaygo alumni. I moved away in my 20’s for a few years but returned home. I’m a very involved member of the NPS school system, my involvement includes:
What skills to you bring to the board? Due to my professional experience I have extensive experience in change management, process collaboration, purchasing optimization, staffing, union contract negotiations, policy and procedure implementation, continuous improvement methodologies, public relations & communication, and benchmarking initiatives. From a personal experience perspective I have served on government boards for the township, worked with at risk youth through the YMCA, been a middle school and high school coach and a middle school drug prevention specialist. I have gotten to know many of the staff at Newaygo Public Schools due to my involvement and have built great relationships with many in our district. I’m actively involved in our community and have a large and diverse network throughout Newaygo allowing me to gain perspective across many varied social and economic groups of people. What is your own experience with public education? I am a K-12 Newaygo Public Schools graduate as is my husband. Our daughter is a 5th grader at Newaygo Middle School. My mom is a retired teacher and my dad in his retirement became the Transportation Supervisor for Newaygo Public Schools. I also was a substitute teacher for 3 years while finishing my college degree. My experience with public schools gives me a unique perspective because I have an understanding for what teachers go through in a day, what administration faces and what students need. However, as a professional for a large public company I bring perspective from a business mindset. What do you see as your responsibilities as a board member? A school board should oversee policies and procedures that protect students, staff and administration in order to be fiscally responsible and legally protected. The school board should make sure that the expectations of the staff and administration are clear and in compliance with state and federal regulations. I also would like to see the school board take it a step beyond to make sure that Newaygo Public Schools has procedures in place that foster an attractive learning environment that is innovative, inclusive and exciting for all students regardless of their talents. What do you see as the priorities for the coming years? My number one priority is to ensure that NPS has very clear policies and procedures. This includes the School Board having basic operating principles. The School Board should clearly establish what and how they oversee in the district and what they expect the leaders to be responsible for. What do you see as strengths in the school district? I truly believe the employees of NPS are awesome! With limited resources I see many of them go above and beyond. Each of us have opportunities for improvement and growth, but at the core of what we have is some amazing people doing all they can to educate our kids. What do you see as the primary challenges ahead? In a small community with limited financial resources and the same regulations and expectations as bigger and more funded districts we still have to find a way to reach the changing needs of our student body. We need to think creatively to educate & provide services for our students especially through all the budget constraints and mandated regulations. It is difficult to change with new generations and their learning styles, but if we don’t figure out how to adapt and utilize the resources we do have we risk losing students to other ways of being educated. What is your vision for NPS? I would love to see a school system where our kids are serviced regardless of their needs. Special education, main stream and gifted students receive what they need to be successful. Individual talents at NPS recognized and not asking all students to be and think in the “standard” box would be an amazing outcome. My hope is that we solve how to keep our students at NPS instead of choosing to go to private, charter or online schools. How should teacher performance be measured? Although there are mandated metrics for staff and administration, I would like for NPS to be more inline with other professional evaluation methods. I think it is important to get peer and customer feedback. It is essential for one’s growth to understand what perceptions are out there so that you can work to improve or capitalize on what is working. Sharing best practices due to feedback will improve the school as a whole. Describe your experience with conflict resolution and consensus building. As a Process Pillar Lead for General Mills my core responsibilities are both conflict resolution and consensus building. The foundation of conflict resolution is in fact consensus building. Helping people understand that not every outcome is going to be 100% in everyone’s favor helps build trust that the resolution is for a greater purpose. Helping people understand their role in the resolution is key. As a board member making key decisions who might you seek advice from? In order to have a good solution you need to gain perspective from not only those that work for the school system but the customers of the school system. It is important to seek input from many in order to be able to represent those that have elected you. At some point schools may need to go to the community and ask for additional resources i.e. bond, millage. How would you help enlist support in the community for an initiative like this? I would enlist support by working with my local network of the Newaygo community. I have proven this effective through my work with the most recent bond issue and the network we built to drive and market that initiative. Communication channels that I have used are social media, community forums, mailers and newspapers to communicate. What book you’ve read has influenced you the most. As cliché as this might seem I would say the book Eat, Pray, Love was a turning point for me personally. This book really initiated my desire to be comfortable with who I am. Learning to embrace my own needs and flaws and work on those actively and daily while staying true to myself was sparked by a book where a broken woman had to search the world to discover her authentic self. I think it is important to define and discover who you are daily and stay true to your ethics and beliefs even when people don’t agree. Morgan Heinzman What motivates you to run for the board? I’ve been to couple of the school board meetings, and with having 20 yrs of being involved in board government, I feel that I can offer some help. I also want to learn the ins and outs of the education school system. How long have you in the district? What school activities have you been involved in? I moved into the school district in 1978 when I was in the eighth grade. What skills to you bring to the board? I have been part of board government for 20 years. I have been to many classes on how a board is supposed to function. What is your own experience with public education? I am a product of public education and all three of My children have been through public education, and also my wife is a public educator. What do you see as your responsibilities as a board member? To oversee the quality of education provided by the school system to make sure there is a healthy and safe learning environment; And to make sure the public has input into all aspects of the school system. What do you see as the priorities for the coming years? What do you see as strengths in the school district? What do you see as the primary challenges ahead? These three questions go together...the primary challenges for any school system today is to be able to keep up with technology and being able to teach it as fast as it develops. that has to be the primary goal . The strength of Newaygo school system lies within its teachers, its facilities, and it’s extracurricular activities. What is your vision for NPS? To keep Newaygo Public Schools a small community school. How should teacher performance be measured? I do not believe the evaluation of a teacher’s performance is the job of the school board. I believe that is the job of the superintendent, and the school board’s job is to hold the superintendent accountable to make sure that it’s done. Describe your experience with conflict resolution and consensus building. As part of several different boards throughout the community over the years, I’ve had to deal with both conflicts and consensus building in many circumstances As a board member making key decisions who might you seek advice from? I would seek input from everybody and anybody I could depending on what the decision is. At some point schools may need to go to the community and ask for additional resources i.e. bond, millage. How would you help enlist support in the community for an initiative like this? This is what I would never do,I would never hold a series of 12 meetings with the public to try to make a decision on something and then after meeting 10, go to a backdoor room and make that decision and never asked the public how they felt. If I was on the school board, I would make sure something like this never happens in Newaygo again. The Newaygo school board will be faced with public decisions in the very near future as to what happens with some of its old buildings when it’s done with it and the community involvement in this has to be taken very seriously. What book you’ve read has influenced you the most? The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump Tom Frisbie What motivates you to run for the board? My motivations for running for the board include being more involved in my community and bringing a new perspective and fresh ideas. How long have you in the district? What school activities have you been involved in? I have lived in the district for over 25 years. Youth athletic coaching, elementary field trips, helping with band performances, and a high school football volunteer are just a few activities I have been involved with over the years. What skills to you bring to the board? As a board member, some of my skills will include; making sound business and financial decisions, communicating with others, working well as a team, an advocate for students and understanding community relations. Also, I having experience serving as a board member on other organizations within the community. What is your own experience with public education? I am a proud parent of two Newaygo graduates and a current NHS Junior. My wife is a 1991 graduate of Newaygo High School. Both of our graduates attend Northern Michigan University. Our son will be graduating in December with a secondary education degree and plans to work in the public school system. What do you see as your responsibilities as a board member? To work with the superintendent, administration, facility and the community to provide a high quality educational environment for all students. What do you see as the priorities for the coming years? 1. Making sure we are filling staff vacancies with quality personnel. 2. Being fiscally responsible in keeping up with our changing economy and funding. 3. Making sure our students are prepared for employment. What do you see as strengths in the school district? I believe our school has a strong foundation, good community support, and most of all, a caring and devoted administration and faculty. What do you see as the primary challenges ahead? A few challenges I see for the district include; * providing funding and staffing for our at risk students and special education programs * retaining students * accessibility to vocational and skills training. What is your vision for NPS? My vision for NPS is to bond community and school together for the best interest of the students, faculty and community while promoting innovation and maintaining high standards for all. How should teacher performance be measured? Teacher performances should be accessed at the district level in conjunction with the PA 173. With this said, I am open to learning/researching evaluation techniques that fit our district's needs, which would support understanding the differences in teacher's methods and student learning. Describe your experience with conflict resolution and consensus building. My day to day experiences in a sales and service industry provides me with daily problem solving skills and working with a variety of people within our community. I am committed to resolving problems quickly, calmly and establishing common goals for all involved. As a board member making key decisions who might you seek advice from? When making key decisions, I would first seek advice from the parties involved and then from individuals with experience with the decision at hand. At some point schools may need to go to the community and ask for additional resources i.e. bond, millage. How would you help enlist support in the community for an initiative like this? No bond or millage should be presented without first listing the benefits to students and community. Full transparency and honesty is how I would enlist community support. What book you’ve read has influenced you the most. The Bible. Jami Schultz What motivates you to run for the board? I am motivated to run because I graduated from Newaygo Public as did my husband, we have two kids that will soon enter the Newaygo Public School system and I think it’s a great time for me to serve on our school board. How long have you in the district? What school activities have you been involved in? I have lived in the district for more than 20 years. I was involved with the school bond mileage, I have also volunteered to help with athletic events. What skills to you bring to the board? I bring a positive attitude, I have the communication and interpersonal skills necessary to build relationships with the administration and fellow Board members as well as the community. I have a willingness to learn, I won’t pretend that I know all the ins and outs of the school system, that is why we have the excellent staff in place to run the school on a day to day basis, but I am willing to learn all that I need to do the best job I possibly can as a board member to serve the kids at NPS and the community. I am aware that my role as a board member is to maintain an environment that discourages micromanagement or undermining of the superintendent, but instead be a voice for the community. What is your own experience with public education? Aside from attending public schools from 9th – 12th grades, my mother was the Business Manager for Newaygo Public for 20 years, my aunt was the High School Principal for many years. I have many family members and friends that are employed within the school system, this allows me an understanding of just how important a strong school system is for our community. I feel it also gives me insights at all levels in the school system. What do you see as your responsibilities as a board member? The responsibilities of a school board member are to set goals for the district, develop and establish policy, evaluate the Superintendent, review the budget, approve, review and evaluate curriculum, participate in contract negotiations, determine facility needs. My role is not always to make others believe what I believe but to listen to the people we serve and represent their opinions. As a board member, it would be my responsibility to ensure that directives are in the best interest of the entire board and district and to also support the Superintendent. What do you see as the priorities for the coming years? I feel that Newaygo has a strong school system, in the coming years I feel we need to build on what we have, focusing on developing the whole child, safety and overall welfare. Doing what we can for all students so that they are safe and in an environment where learning is the number one priority for them. An example would be the third-grade reading law, while NPS was already incorporating many of the law’s requirements this has helped to increase focus on early literacy. What do you see as strengths in the school district? The dedicated staff at NPS, from bus drivers to the Superintendent, NPS staff truly believes that kids are worth whatever it takes. I can say that I have seen it with my own eyes that this is a special place for children to learn, grow and reach their fullest potential. Being a part of the Promise Zone, Kickstart to Career, access to technical training, the initiate of K-12 implementing PBIS, these are all strengths of our district. Community support is also a huge strength in our school district. What do you see as the primary challenges ahead? Safety is a constant concern not only for parents but also for our school district. Continuing to do all we can in the district and the community to ensure we are keeping kids safe. The education environment is an ever changing one, keeping up with those changes is something that is a constant challenge. Finding a balance between what is required from state and national levels and doing what is right for our kids and this area. I feel that NPS does a great job at being fiscally conservative but I think that finances are always a challenge in public education. What is your vision for NPS? A strong school system is the heart of a community, and we have one at NPS. My vision is that this continues for many years to come and that we continue to make not only student achievement but also development of the whole child the priority. How should teacher performance be measured? Teacher performance should be measured by not only state testing assessments, but also should include whole child development as well as assessment data throughout the school year determined by state regulations, administration and staff. Describe your experience with conflict resolution and consensus building. I have worked in Customer Service for almost 20 years, I am currently the supervisor of the Call Center at Great Lakes Energy, on a regular basis I deal with conflict resolution. I think it’s important to hear all sides, get all the facts when working on a resolution. It is important that people feel they are heard, it may not always be a decision someone likes but it is important to get their opinions about it. As a board member making key decisions who might you seek advice from? I would seek advice from the Superintendent, administrators, teachers, support staff and from people that have retired from the school system but who hold a great deal of knowledge and understanding regarding it. The decisions that the board makes directly impacts all levels in the school system, most importantly students, I think it’s important to be fully informed and to gather opinions before making key decisions. At some point schools may need to go to the community and ask for additional resources i.e. bond, millage. How would you help enlist support in the community for an initiative like this? I would be fully informed about what we are asking for and why. I would welcome questions and concerns from the community so that they are fully informed as well. I think that, as was done with the last bond proposal, having open regular meetings that people can get the facts are very important. I think on issues like these it is important to be very transparent to the community, after all it is their tax dollars we are asking for. What book you’ve read has influenced you the most. A book I have recently read and has had an impact for me is ‘Spark’ by Angie Morgan, Courtney Lynch & Sean Lynch. Jim Badgero What motivates you to run for the board? I have 2 kids currently enrolled in Newaygo Public Schools and I want to do all I can to make sure they (and all the other students enrolled) receive the best education and have a safe environment to learn as possible. How long have you in the district? What school activities have you been involved in? I moved to the area in May of 2000. I have been on the School Board since 2009 and have been involved with Bond passage, goal setting, facility assessment, hiring a Superintendent as well as classroom Finance presentations, chaperoning field trips, and helping with sporting events. What skills to you bring to the board? I have been on the board for 10 years and have served on the Finance and Personal Committees for many of these years. I have been part of the teacher contract negotiations process. I feel that experience and history is invaluable to this process as many times you need to know where you have been to know where you are going. What is your own experience with public education? My wife and I are both graduates of the Michigan public school system. My two boys are enrolled in NPS and we never considered anything different. I feel public schools are the best place for children to be. What do you see as your responsibilities as a board member? I feel that as a board member we set policies, budget, school mission/goals, hiring and evaluating our superintendent and facility needs all based on input from the community. What do you see as the priorities for the coming years? I feel that we need to find a way to market our schools to attract families to move into our district to stop the declining enrollment that we have been experiencing. Also finding and recruiting staff to provide the best education for our students is getting harder and more competitive as we have staff retire. What do you see as strengths in the school district? I feel that our staff is our greatest asset. We have so many employees that go above and beyond to take care of our kids. What do you see as the primary challenges ahead? Funding and budget are always a battle. As well as making sure our students get the most out of their education. What is your vision for NPS? To be the school of choice in our community, I take pride of our schools and will always be and advocate for NPS! How should teacher performance be measured? I feel that student achievement is what is the most utilized in measuring performance. But there are so many other issues that arise in a teacher’s day to day routine as well as turnover in the student population that it is nearly impossible to solely base it on test scores alone. Describe your experience with conflict resolution and consensus building. I am very open minded, and level headed. I will always take the time to hear both sides of an issue and make my decision based on all I take in. I always try to be positive and respectful of all opinions. As a board member making key decisions who might you seek advice from? I rely on getting input from our school administration, professional staff and community members before I make a decision. At some point schools may need to go to the community and ask for additional resources i.e. bond, millage. How would you help enlist support in the community for an initiative like this? I would help make sure the facts are supplied to the community in the most transparent and positive way. I would attend forums, go door to door and be available to discuss any concerns anyone might have. What book you’ve read has influenced you the most. I can’t say any one book has influenced me most, but I have read many autobiographies on successful business leaders and athletes. Reading how someone has risen to the top of their field and motivate others to be the best they can be is what I take away from these books. John Goodin What motivates you to run for the board? I was appointed to the board several months ago, and would like to stay active in our school community and continue to contribute to some things we’ve already started in order to stay accountable to the public – the approval of a comprehensive set of board policies is one example. How long have you lived in the district? What school activities have you been involved in? I’ve lived in the district my entire life and graduated from Newaygo Public Schools, as have my children. I’ve spent a lot of years being involved with kids in our community, where I helped grow the youth football program and build a strong connection with the high school program (through good management, were able to give back to the JV/Varsity program for allowing us to use their fields by purchasing new equipment for them, and we were largely responsible for construction of the concessions building at the HS football field that is now used by the NHS Band and other groups for their fundraising); I was very involved in Little League; coaching; MYWAY Wrestling; various youth fundraisers; had a key role in remodeling a spare room in the high school for use as a mat/wrestling room for students & teachers; and I worked on the AYSO soccer fields. Many of these things were accomplished with fellow candidate board Morgan Heinzman. I’m proud to have been able to support many kids & families over the years, and honored to have been chosen to receive the Newaygo I Care Award in 2016. What skills do you bring to the board? I'm not afraid to work hard and tackle the tough parts of a job (which I’ve done my whole life); I am skilled in negotiations and getting to the bottom of things to help drive improvement -- I do this every day at work; I feel I understand the heartbeat and needs of the community, and I already have some experience on this board, as well as on other boards and committees. What is your own experience with public education? I spent K-12 in Newaygo Public Schools, which I feel prepared me well for life. My father was a public school teacher, my in-laws were teachers, and my daughter is currently studying to be a teacher. I have always supported the role of public schools as an anchor in their communities throughout our state. I know first-hand how important they are. What do you see as your responsibilities as a board member? To be honest and transparent with the community and taxpayers; to work to be knowledgeable and have an understanding of our district so I can be an advocate for NPS and the kids and families of our district. What do you see as the priorities for the coming years? What do you see as the strengths in the district? What do you see as the primary challenges ahead? What is your vision for NPS? As a board member, I am one of seven. It’s important for the board to be open & honest and work together with our administration and community to identify these things and help move our district forward in a way that’s best for Newaygo. Describe your experience with conflict resolution and consensus building? As an agent on the executive board of the Teamsters, a national & international union, this is what I do every single day in my work. I was a UPS driver for many years and I worked my way up to a position on the executive board, so I have a lot of experience in seeing issues from many different perspectives and compromising to find the best solutions to benefit all involved. Jackie Malsom I’ve been a board member for a number of years. I love Newaygo schools that helped both of my children be successful adults. My goal as a board member would continue to make Newaygo schools help, educate, and embrace students to become the best that they can with their lives. Both of my children are college graduates, one a graduate of University of Chicago. Great teachers and staff that are dedicated to instill belief that kids can follow their dreams and be successful. Comments are closed.
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