With years of involvement in Durango schools, I can knowledgeably and enthusiastically recommend my two favorite candidates for the 9-R board, Kim Martin and Mick Souder. I know how the board works (very hard, long hours) at providing oversight of the district. I see Martin and Souder each supplying qualities that otherwise might be missing from the team.
With extensive business, IT, law and public service careers, they are equally knowledgeable in the education world from both sides of the equation – as developers of innovative programs, in the training of teachers and the teaching of students in multicultural settings, as family members of public school teachers (Mick’s wife; Kim’s three adult children). They will be committed to ensuring every family across our wide socioeconomic spectrum has access to excellent educational choices that meet every child’s learning needs.
They bring great ideas for convening the public and strong listening skills to match. Mick has been a key board member of the national “E-Democracy.org” online public engagement project in addition to his current IT position for the Southern Ute Tribe. Kim is a former ELL teacher on the Navajo Reservation, a program developer for children with extreme special needs and locally has been a board member of Tri-State Head Start. She retired in 2011 from teaching at FLC and recently demonstrated her global vision with a multimedia project connecting Durango women with Middle Eastern counterparts, something rare and much needed in the 21st century. We are lucky indeed to have them step up to the plate.
Bliss Bruen
Durango
