Guided by Values
Growing up with a first-grade teacher for a mom, I learned important family values at a young age. Now as a husband and father of four, I strive to live by and teach those values every day. These are values such as telling the truth, being kind and fair, standing up for people who need help, and growing every day.
As a school board member, these values will continue to guide me. Telling the truth looks like being transparent and conducting business in public, not behind closed doors or in private social media groups. Being kind and fair looks like being accessible to members of the community, treating people with respect even when we disagree, and being open-minded to new ideas. Standing up for people who need help means stopping bullies and only passing policies that move all students forward (and not just some). Growing every day is my commitment to continue to study best practices in public education from across the country, as I’ve been doing for more than the last decade.
Grounded in Community
My family has lived in Gardner since 2015, and we know and love this community. I know that having a strong school system is essential to our community’s long-term success. Having great schools is the leading contributor to strong economic growth, steady home values, and preparing future community leaders.
Owning three businesses in the school district, I know how important it is to have strong relationships between the business community and the school district. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity of hiring and supervising dozens of USD 231 students and alumni and know what it looks like to prepare students to be successful as adults.
I hope to expand students’ opportunities to gain real world experience as a part of their education, giving them a competitive edge in graduating into either their career or higher education.
Growing Student Success
I served for six years as a member of Johnson County Community College’s division of Student Success and Engagement. I have first-hand experience and knowledge in what college preparedness looks like as well as which academic interventions are needed to help students get there. I gained a reputation at JCCC as being a strong advocate for students, and even took concerns directly to the college president when I could see that policies and operations were decreasing students’ chance at success.
I’m a regular volunteer in my kids’ schools and my wife is a speech-language pathologist. Special education isn’t just federally mandated, it’s a social responsibility to the kids and families of our community. For the past six years I have spoken publicly, collected hundreds of signatures for petitions, and contacted every member of the education committees in the Kansas House and Senate to fund Special Education. As a member of the USD 231 Board of Education, that advocacy to the state legislature would grow stronger and stronger.
My time as the Community Relations Manager for Johnson County Mental Health Center exposed me to the ways that mental and behavioral health impact a student’s opportunity to be successful in the classroom. I’ve also seen first-hand how childhood trauma, difficult home lives, and even poverty all contribute to a student’s academic growth. It’s important that our school district strengthen relationships with community partners to expand wrap-around services for students and families. While we should continue to resource our teachers, paras, and building staff with what they need, we also can’t expect teachers to be effective educators if they also have to do the work of a social worker or a behavioral specialist. Partnerships with community organizations are our only way to care for our students in a cost-effective way.
I hold a Master of Divinity from Nazarene Theological Seminary and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Missouri’s Truman School of Government and Public Affairs.
