Two additional applicants for a vacancy on the Emporia board of education were reached for brief interviews after press time on Thursday. Information on seven of the applicants ran in Thursday’s Gazette.
A total of nine people have applied to fill the unexpired term of Homer Garza, who resigned last month, citing commuting time and his work schedule at a new out-of-town job as his reasons for leaving the board.
Mickey Edwards
Mickey Edwards, 2530 Monterey Drive, director of SOS/CASA of the Flint Hills.
“I think I can bring a perspective that maybe isn’t already represented on the board,” Edwards said.
Her professional background in child advocacy, combined with her experience as a parent of three sons, have provided that perspective, she said. She said she also is very familiar with the Emporia school system.
“My own son is a gifted student and many of the individuals we serve at CASA have Individualized Educational Programs,” Edwards said. “...I also have average experience with my other two sons.”
As a parent, she has been president and a member of the Waltnut PTO and served on the school’s executive committee. She also has worked with the PTO at Timmerman Elementary School and is involved in Cub Scouts with all three of her children.
Edwards graduated from Emporia High School and attended Emporia State University for approximately three years.
Amy Scheller
Amy Scheller, 1942 Briarcliff Lane, treatment coordinator for Drs. Hannah and Oltjen, Orthodontics.
Scheller said that she is “very interested in participating in the formation of any kind of planning for the future as well as managing the challenges currently” in the Emporia school system.
She has served on the strategic planning committee and was co-coordinator of the site council for Emporia Middle School and the instructional council.
She said that because of her experience in strategic planning and learning more about what is happening in local schools, she was reminded of the need for good support and advocacy for students and staff.
“The more I learn, the more I realize there’s a need for somebody on the school board who’s very in touch with what’s going on in the schools directly,” Scheller said.
Her experience as a nurse made her aware of the way “our environment forms us and shapes us as who we are as individuals,” Scheller said.
“I really see schools as a microcosm of our community... Are our schools a healthy environment to be forming our children in — healthy meaning, Is it a safe place to learn? Is it a positive place to learn. ... Do we have the resources? How are we supporting our teachers in doing that as they are having the day-to-day contact with our kids?”
Scheller said she believes the Emporia educational community and school system are strong.
“The health and wellness of our school system affects not only our community, but our state and our nation,” she said.
Scheller has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Emporia State University.
Applicants will have until noon Sept. 12, to complete a more-detailed application and submit it to board clerk Norma Stinnett.
School board members will interview candidates beginning at 7 p.m. Sept. 15, at Mary Herbert Education Center. The board will meet again at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 17, to choose its new member.
The appointment to the board will end on June 30, 2009.