When I think about which candidates I will support, I’m most interested in their core values. In my own experience serving in local government, issues will arise that no one anticipates during the campaign. Topics that are never discussed at a forum or in a written candidate questionnaire. So, it’s important to me to know how the candidates process information and what guides their decision making.

My mission in life is to help others flourish. That mission has driven my work with CASA and Thrive, my work sharing brain science and ways of dealing with stress with a variety of audiences including teacher professional development, and my personal relationships.

The core values of our school district shape the decisions made by administration, staff, and board members. These values are joy, accountability, trust, courage, and acceptance. My own core values overlap significantly with those of USD 383. They include the importance of learning and service, treating all with dignity and respect, approaching the world with curiosity not judgment, fairness, wonder and joy, and gratitude.

Many of my values come from my core character strengths. I’m a fan of the VIA Character Institute, who studied character around the world and defined twenty-four core strengths. We are born with a set of character strengths, which are positive qualities that energize us, that we perform well and choose often. Strengths have three key components – performance (being good at something), energy (feeling good doing it), and high use (choosing to do it). Want to learn more? Visit viacharacter.org

My top five character strengths are honesty, love of learning, gratitude, bravery, and fairness. For me, honesty means showing up in the world as my authentic self and accepting others for who they are. It took me many years to feel I could be myself rather than an act that I thought others wanted to see. Love of learning includes love of sharing what I have learned with others. I find such joy in teaching and facilitating workshops where I can share my knowledge. Love of learning also drives me to seek out information from multiple sources and hear all sides before making a decision. That has been a very important strength for me to use in public service. Bravery comes out when I’m advocating for a child I’m serving at CASA or when I stand by what may be an unpopular position.