Whitko Hosts Meet-The- Candidates Night
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Tim [email protected]
The six candidates are running for three seats on the board up for election May 6. The candidates were each given five minutes to speak on their vision for Whitko Schools.
Michael Braddock, District 1
Incumbent Michael Braddock currently is serving his eighth year on the school board. He and his wife, Brenda, have two daughters who attended Whitko schools.[[In-content Ad]]Braddock said one of his main concerns for the school corporation is graduation rates.
"I am understanding that we're ahead of the state average, but I'm not understanding why 25 percent of our kids don't graduate," Braddock said. He said one of his daughters earned her GED instead of graduating and that originally prompted him to get involved on the school board.
"One of my kids, I felt, fell through the cracks," he said. "I didn't like the idea of a kid falling through the cracks, that's one of the reasons I got on the board."
Braddock also said he wants to see improvement in ISTEP scores and trust built among school staff and faculty.
Cindy Kreger, District 1
Cindy Kreger said both she and her husband, Jerry, are Whitko High School graduates. One of their daughters is a senior at WHS and the other graduated from WHS and is now a sophomore at Purdue University.
Kreger worked for the school corporation from 1995 to 2007. She held several positions within the corporation, including working with preschool students.
"I think my perspective of what the school needs will be a little different than other board members because I'm coming from the inside," Kreger said.
She said, as a board member, she would help the board remember they need to take interest in making education better for average students.
"I'm for the everyday kid that needs help," she said.
Roger Boggs, District 2
Roger Boggs currently is serving his first year on the school board. He was appointed in July 2007 to replace Hal Trump, who resigned from the board.
"I see the school board as an opportunity for me to give back to the community," Boggs said. "We've got an opportunity to impact our kids."
Boggs said part of his vision for the school corporation is to successfully navigate an uncertain financial future. New state legislation leaves some ambiguity with respect to funding for small school corporations. Boggs said he feels his background working with budgets at DePuy gives him the experience, which will be vital to enable the school corporation to provide increasingly high quality education even if state funding falls. Boggs said he wants to market Whitko Schools and publicize some of the outstanding programs the school corporation provides. He also said, as a board member, he would like to make the school board election process more voter-friendly.
Terry Eberly, District 3
Terry Eberly has four children who attend Whitko Schools. He said he feels a partnership between the school corporation and parents of students is an important factor in the education of children in the community.
"My goal is to increase family-school partnerships," Eberly said.
Eberly said his 20 years of experience working with operations and budgeting at Harmony Publishing will be valuable as the school board faces lower rates of funding.
"We and other schools will be faced with budget cuts in the next few years," he said. "We must take a proactive, fiscally responsible stance."
Eberly also said it is very important that the school board prioritize the role of technology in education. He said the next generation will be more dependent on technology than those before and technological skills will be vital to their success.
Jim Hayes Jr., District 3
Jim Hayes Jr. has been involved in tutoring Whitko students for eight years. He said this experience has given him insight into the lives and work of students and teachers in the school corporation.
He also said his professional business experience would serve him well as a board member.
"I have been responsible for budgets of $50 million per year. I know how to make those and survive a recession," he said.
Continuing improvement of ISTEP performance, Hayes said, is an important factor for the school board to keep in mind. He said, having done some research and through discussions with Whitko Superintendent Steven Clason, he found that Whitko students' test scores have been improving as students move through school. He said, when comparing students' achievement in third grade to their 10th-grade scores, the increase is impressive.
Hayes said he feels the school corporation needs to focus on finding ways to provide challenges for gifted students and ways to honor academic achievement on the same scale as athletic achievement.
Shannon Langmaid, District 3
Shannon Langmaid is a stay-at-home mother who has been involved with the school corporation as the vice president of Whitko Dollars for Scholars and secretary of the elementary school PTO.
Langmaid said one of the major strengths she would bring to the school board is her ability to address issues brought to the board.
"If you come to me with a problem, I will work out a way to solve it," she said. "I will get it done."
She said the board needs to prioritize the concerns of the public. "They're all our customers," she said. "We need to all work together to improve the school corporation."
Langmaid also said the school corporation needs to support efforts to fight childhood obesity. "We can always do better," she said.
She said she would like to see the school board investigate programs where the schools could work with parents on ways to improve their children's health through activity and diet.
Langmaid also said she would like to see an improvement of Whitko graduation rates.
"One kid not graduating could be bad," she said. "Having as many as we do is a real problem."
Latest News
E-Editions
The six candidates are running for three seats on the board up for election May 6. The candidates were each given five minutes to speak on their vision for Whitko Schools.
Michael Braddock, District 1
Incumbent Michael Braddock currently is serving his eighth year on the school board. He and his wife, Brenda, have two daughters who attended Whitko schools.[[In-content Ad]]Braddock said one of his main concerns for the school corporation is graduation rates.
"I am understanding that we're ahead of the state average, but I'm not understanding why 25 percent of our kids don't graduate," Braddock said. He said one of his daughters earned her GED instead of graduating and that originally prompted him to get involved on the school board.
"One of my kids, I felt, fell through the cracks," he said. "I didn't like the idea of a kid falling through the cracks, that's one of the reasons I got on the board."
Braddock also said he wants to see improvement in ISTEP scores and trust built among school staff and faculty.
Cindy Kreger, District 1
Cindy Kreger said both she and her husband, Jerry, are Whitko High School graduates. One of their daughters is a senior at WHS and the other graduated from WHS and is now a sophomore at Purdue University.
Kreger worked for the school corporation from 1995 to 2007. She held several positions within the corporation, including working with preschool students.
"I think my perspective of what the school needs will be a little different than other board members because I'm coming from the inside," Kreger said.
She said, as a board member, she would help the board remember they need to take interest in making education better for average students.
"I'm for the everyday kid that needs help," she said.
Roger Boggs, District 2
Roger Boggs currently is serving his first year on the school board. He was appointed in July 2007 to replace Hal Trump, who resigned from the board.
"I see the school board as an opportunity for me to give back to the community," Boggs said. "We've got an opportunity to impact our kids."
Boggs said part of his vision for the school corporation is to successfully navigate an uncertain financial future. New state legislation leaves some ambiguity with respect to funding for small school corporations. Boggs said he feels his background working with budgets at DePuy gives him the experience, which will be vital to enable the school corporation to provide increasingly high quality education even if state funding falls. Boggs said he wants to market Whitko Schools and publicize some of the outstanding programs the school corporation provides. He also said, as a board member, he would like to make the school board election process more voter-friendly.
Terry Eberly, District 3
Terry Eberly has four children who attend Whitko Schools. He said he feels a partnership between the school corporation and parents of students is an important factor in the education of children in the community.
"My goal is to increase family-school partnerships," Eberly said.
Eberly said his 20 years of experience working with operations and budgeting at Harmony Publishing will be valuable as the school board faces lower rates of funding.
"We and other schools will be faced with budget cuts in the next few years," he said. "We must take a proactive, fiscally responsible stance."
Eberly also said it is very important that the school board prioritize the role of technology in education. He said the next generation will be more dependent on technology than those before and technological skills will be vital to their success.
Jim Hayes Jr., District 3
Jim Hayes Jr. has been involved in tutoring Whitko students for eight years. He said this experience has given him insight into the lives and work of students and teachers in the school corporation.
He also said his professional business experience would serve him well as a board member.
"I have been responsible for budgets of $50 million per year. I know how to make those and survive a recession," he said.
Continuing improvement of ISTEP performance, Hayes said, is an important factor for the school board to keep in mind. He said, having done some research and through discussions with Whitko Superintendent Steven Clason, he found that Whitko students' test scores have been improving as students move through school. He said, when comparing students' achievement in third grade to their 10th-grade scores, the increase is impressive.
Hayes said he feels the school corporation needs to focus on finding ways to provide challenges for gifted students and ways to honor academic achievement on the same scale as athletic achievement.
Shannon Langmaid, District 3
Shannon Langmaid is a stay-at-home mother who has been involved with the school corporation as the vice president of Whitko Dollars for Scholars and secretary of the elementary school PTO.
Langmaid said one of the major strengths she would bring to the school board is her ability to address issues brought to the board.
"If you come to me with a problem, I will work out a way to solve it," she said. "I will get it done."
She said the board needs to prioritize the concerns of the public. "They're all our customers," she said. "We need to all work together to improve the school corporation."
Langmaid also said the school corporation needs to support efforts to fight childhood obesity. "We can always do better," she said.
She said she would like to see the school board investigate programs where the schools could work with parents on ways to improve their children's health through activity and diet.
Langmaid also said she would like to see an improvement of Whitko graduation rates.
"One kid not graduating could be bad," she said. "Having as many as we do is a real problem."
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092