I moved to Athens in 2001 to attend the University of Georgia. After graduating in 2005, I spent two years teaching in Japan and returned to Athens in 2009. I began as a substitute teacher in the Clarke County School District, then became a paraprofessional at W.R. Coile Middle School, where I worked one-on-one with a seventh-grade student. My colleagues named me Coile’s Paraprofessional of the Year, and that summer I was hired as a seventh-grade science teacher at Coile. I’ve taught middle school science ever since, earning both school-wide and districtwide Teacher of the Year honors in the 2014–2015 school year.

The principal who first hired me said, “Students will learn more for you than from you.”

Fourteen years in the classroom have proven the wisdom of that advice: strong, positive relationships with students and their families are the foundation of education.

Students need to know they are valued and supported by every adult in the building, and parents need the daily reassurance that their children are safe, seen, and cared for at school. When that trust is established, real learning can take root—and children can thrive.

I believed I understood this from the teacher’s side.

Then my son was born.

Now, as my child prepares to start school, I feel even more deeply what it means for a parent to place their trust in a school community. To earn and sustain that trust, educators need strong, consistent support from administration—and from a school board made up of leaders who understand both the realities of the classroom and the responsibilities of parenthood. I’d be honored to be that leader for you.