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I am excited to be a candidate for the NYSSBA Area 10 Director and am very appreciative to have been nominated by several of the component school districts.
By way of introduction, I have been a member of the White Plains City School District Board of Education since 2007, having risen through the ranks of PTA, at both the school building level and district-wide. I currently serve on the School Board’s Policy, Curriculum, and Special Education Committees; I have also had stints on the Finance/Audit Committee and the Human Resources Committee, and have been the Board’s liaison to PTA Council. I have had recent roles in District direction-setting initiatives such as the Equity Committee, Reopening Committee, Master Planning Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, and Elementary Science Curriculum Advisory Committee, and previously participated on numerous other committees including Middle School Redesign, Elementary Math Curriculum Advisory Committee, and District-wide Enrichment. I commit my time and energy to being involved in as many distinct district projects and efforts as possible.
With the desire to have a positive impact on a broader array of school districts, students, educational professionals, and the public, I joined the Southern Westchester BOCES Board of Education in 2019 to fill an unexpired term and was elected the following year to a full three year term. I serve on the BOCES Policy, Finance/Audit, and Wellness Committees and liaise with Westchester Putnam School Boards Association.
Maintaining awareness of current trends, practices, and issues in education and being a conduit to the School Boards on which I serve is a vital component of my Trustee identity, and I spend free time and vacation days from work to advance my professional development as a Board member. This summer, I participated in the NYSSBA Leadership in Education Event as well as the NYSCOSS Diversity Symposium of Thought Leaders. I am a graduate of the Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP 2014 – 2015) and attended again as an alumna in both 2019 – 2020 and 2020 – 2021. Over the last 15 years, I have also participated in conferences and workshops that extend and deepen my knowledge of issues in public education at the local, state, and national level including those offered by Westchester Putnam School Boards Association, NYSSBA Annual Conferences and Law Seminars, Columbia University Teachers College Reimagining Education: Teaching and Learning in Racially Diverse Schools, The Celebration of Teaching and Learning, Manhattanville College Changing Suburbs Institute, Lower Hudson Teacher Center Network Social Emotional Learning Conference, Manhattanville College and Westchester Putnam School Boards Association Transitions Conferences: Preparing Students to Succeed in College.
I consider my Board service to be the most significant work that I do, and I am eager to have the opportunity to represent the school districts of Area 10, promoting their needs, perspectives, and priorities as an advocate for our region - and keeping our component school districts abreast of what is happening at NYSSBA and in education around the state. I look forward to the opportunity to influence state-wide education initiatives and policy on behalf of the Rockland/Westchester/Putnam region and the Westchester Putnam and Rockland School Boards Associations.
I have a day job where I serve in a supervisory role as the Manager of Operations and Client Services of Bennett International, a world-wide educational consultancy company. One of the benefits of this position is that I oversee the case files of hundreds of relocating families, offering me insights into education and educational institutions as well as the educational needs of individual families and children, across our country and around the globe. Collaboration and communication are key elements of my work.
After receiving my Ph.D. in Mathematics, I spent almost a dozen years as a math professor and department chair at SUNY Purchase where I taught students in all levels of math courses as well as computer science, designed new courses, and served on numerous committees. Teaching is in my blood, and I have taught Religious School for eleven years, working with students ranging from kindergarten to tenth grade. In addition to being an educator at Congregation Kol Ami, I am also an active member, a Sisterhood Co-President, and a former member of their Board of Trustees. (I sing in the choir as well!) Our congregation helped resettle a newly arrived refugee family from Syria a few years ago, and my role as Education Chair of their Core Resettlement Committee provided me with a unique perspective on schooling challenges for newly arrived immigrant families. I have recently been involved in efforts to resettle an Afghan refugee family as well, exploring and advising on daycare/preschool and enrichment options for their young child.
Developing trust and nurturing respectful relationships with colleagues, clients, students, and parents have always been part of my volunteer and professional life. My predilection for contributing to meetings on topics about which I am passionate, my strong work ethic, problem-solving orientation, ability to analyze issues from multiple perspectives, ask hard questions, and express a divergent view within a context of collaboration and teamwork, position me to be an effective representative for Area 10. Public education has been and continues to be my passion, which is what propelled me to run for the White Plains School Board more than 15 years ago. I relish the prospect now to be an effective voice in a larger arena, articulating and advancing the agenda of the school districts in Area 10.
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