There are four candidates running for three seats on Upper Arlington City School Board. Pencilstorm asked each of the candidates five specific questions centered around issues that impacted Upper Arlington residents and questions that were being raised by fellow voters. Pencilstorm will be posting their complete and unedited answers individually leading up to the election and reposting all their answers together the last week of October. Answers will be posted in order they're received. Our third candidate, Jenny McKenna, is featured below.
Jenny McKenna
http://www.jennyforua.com/
In 2018, the school conducted a safety audit and implemented the recommendations. Safety continues to be a top priority in our district. What additional measures would you advocate for to keep our students and staff safer?
In speaking with many parents around the district, I know first hand that safety remains a top priority. As a member of the Upper Arlington School Board, I look forward to ensuring that the safety audit recommendations are implemented in a timely manner. The upgraded visitor log system that has been put in place at our schools this year is a huge step in the right direction, especially given the construction traffic that will be happening at most of our school sites the next several years. I recently had a discussion with Chris Potts, chief operating officer, where we discussed this vey topic. He agrees that as we look to the future, the expert consensus is the most important thing the district can do to keep our kids safe is to invest in their social and emotional well being. This includes ensuring that our faculty and staff are taking care of themselves so they are equipped to take care of our students. It also includes being mindful of the emotional toll of lockdown drills and heightened security have on our kids while also making sure our kids are prepared to be safe in case of emergency. These topics are not simple to solve and as a parent, who is interacting with teachers and other parents in elementary, middle and high school on a weekly basis, I look forward to working with our community to maintain our standards of excellence when it comes to the safety and well-being of our kids.
What technology projects would you propose as a school board member to better prepare our students for the challenges of the near future?
With the district’s implementation of the “one-to-one” technology initiative, we’ve invested a great deal of resources into technology. I am thankful that we have excellent curriculum designers that are working hard everyday to find new ways to incorporate the use of these learning tools into our students’ everyday learning and lives. After speaking to many principles, I learned our teachers are finding innovative ways to use the iPads to teach our curriculum. I was recently speaking with friends of ours about this exact topic. Not only do the have two children in elementary school but the father, Mike Hofherr, also happens to be Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Ohio State. He was sharing with me that one of the biggest challenges with technology is ensuring that our teachers know how and when to use it appropriately. Teacher training is key to integrate that technology into their curriculum. Experts estimate 80% of the jobs in 2030 don’t exist today - so we need to teach the kids these skills that will prepare them for a technology driven economy. I want to work with the district to make sure we invest in professional development for our staff so they are up to date on the best way to use technology to engage our students. Finally, as a parent of children in multiple schools around the district, I want to make sure whenever new things are rolled out our communication to parents occurs early and often. As a member of the Upper Arlington School Board, I’d like to bridge that divide and serve as the voice for parents.
Between higher property taxes and the cost of students participating in various school activities, the expense of having a student in the school system seems to be ever increasing and can be challenging for some in our community. What are some ways to lower the cost of our children taking advantage of various activities Upper Arlington schools have to offer?
Unfortunately, this is a problem that is not unique to Upper Arlington and growing up in a family of seven children, I can appreciate how these costs can quickly add up and parents feel like they are being stretched way too thin. I am a firm believer in “all means all.” ALL children should be afforded the opportunity to participate in sports and extracurriculars if they so desire.
We are fortunate to live in a community with robust and active PTOs and a well supported education foundation. As President of the PTO, I saw first-hand how many community members are willing to donate their time and money to help make sure All means All. We organize fundraising events annually to help supplement important educational and extracurricular activities. My husband and I are also annual contributors to the Upper Arlington Education Foundation and we have worked closely with other parents over the years to educate our community on the value and benefits of giving charitably to our schools. As a voice for parents, I look forward to continue to work with our PTO leadership and the education foundation to find creative solutions ensuring school activities remain affordable for all of our students.
What’s the one thing our teachers need to help them be better educators?
Our teachers are amazing educators, and that’s one of the many reasons our district is so great. Personally, I think one of the best things we can do is let our teachers teach. Our kids are tested too much. I’d love to see less time devoted to testing and testing prep and more time devoted to allowing our teachers to prepare our students for the future. I’ve spoken with dozens of other parents first-hand who feel the same way. I also believe that we need to maintain the district’s level of investment in professional development. Whether it’s learning how to better leverage technology in the classroom or supporting the social and emotional needs of our students, our teachers are one of our most valuable assets and need to be supported. Teachers in the elementary, middle and high school classrooms are trying new and innovative ways of teaching the content while taking the emotional stress of constant testing out of the classroom. As a parent with kids who will be in elementary, middle and high school over the next four years, I look forward to collaborating with parents and teachers at all levels to continue to innovate our approach to education in a way that best benefits our kids.
Everyone at Pencilstorm is a musician. To that end, what would you do to support arts and music education at all of Upper Arlington’s schools?
I am so thankful to live in a school district that strongly supports music & arts programming. We currently have amazing and diverse offerings for students all over the district. There are strings and band programs in every one of our elementary schools. We have after school enrichment programs that include everything from ceramics to ukulele to Taiko drums. Our middle schools and high school have robust performing arts programs. As a member of the Upper Arlington School Board, I look forward to strongly supporting these offerings and maintaining our current levels of investment.
Pencilstorm would like to thank Jenny McKenna for taking the time to answer our questions. Learn more about Jenny at her website: http://www.jennyforua.com/. Look for responses from future candidates in the coming days. Pencilstorm is an independent news source and does not endorse any individual candidate.
Local UA Politics coverage provided by Wal Ozello. You can email him at Pencilstormstory@gmail.com or try to catch him at Colin's Coffee.
Check out coverage of all the candidates we've received responses from by clicking here.