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 second candidate, Lori Trent, is featured below.

Lori O. Trent
https://www.trent4kids.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?
Student well-being which is a part of the recently adopted strategic plan is a huge component. We need to work on building a community where every student (and staff member) feels like they belong. This happens by building bridges, not barriers, embracing differences not judging. Everyone has something to contribute in our community and we need to recognize everyone for their individual talents and gifts. Every student needs to feel valued, loved, and safe. We need to teach our students about school-life balance and create a system where this is possible. We need to have a community where students have trusted adults that they can interact with daily but especially with during times of high stress and emotional challenge. We need to better identify those students who need assistance and act accordingly. Everyone (including students, staff, administrators and parents) is responsible to ensure that we have safe schools by paying attention to and extending a helping hand to those who need it. Here are a couple of recent articles on school safety that are worth noting.

USA Today: The lax disciplinary policies that caused Parkland massacre may have spread to your school
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/09/09/parkland-school-shooting-discipline-andrew-pollack-column/2221300001/ 

Forbes: Why Schools Should End Active Shooter Drills Immediately
https://www.forbes.com/sites/evangerstmann/2019/09/07/why-schools-should-end-active-shooter-drills-immediately/  

What technology projects would you propose as a school board member to better prepare our students for the challenges of the near future?
We live in a digital world that is ever changing and constantly evolving. Technology is a tool that should be used to augment our learning and not replace it. With the rapid pace of our world, I hesitate to identify specific projects as they are only valid for 3-5 years and who knows what new innovations are around the corner.

However, I do think that each of our students should understand programming and coding and be able to work with and understand big data. This is a critical skill that must be developed in our students regardless of what industry they enter. That means being digitally literate with multiple applications by being able to find, evaluate and compose clear writing and communications through various digital platforms.

Equally important is developing these skills for teachers and administrators through professional development. Creating an opportunity for teachers and students to learn together and support one another in this process is desirable as it builds community. Creating a culture that adults and students work side-by-side helps them both acquire life skills and support a growth mindset and can instill a love for life-long learning.

How schools keep up with the technological age
https://academytoday.co.uk/Article/how-schools-keep-up-with-the-technological-age

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?
With the wealth of opportunities and programs that our district offers to students, from academics, extra curriculars and sports, there are costs are associated with each of those offerings. As with all businesses, one of the easiest ways to lower costs is to decrease spending and thereby decrease offerings. Knowing our community, I suspect this approach would receive mixed support and not be desirable or welcomed. 

Rather, I would propose focusing on building business/industry partnerships and seeking out grants and local, state and national funding sources. If we truly believe that it is our collective responsibility to nurture and develop our students, let’s create a funding mechanism that is mutually beneficial to all students and our community.  

Collectively pulling together as a community, we could also pool resources to help those in our community gain access to the means to make sure their students can participate in those activities. Recently initiated, there is currently a Student Life Review committee lead by Dr. Dan Ross comprised of community members and parents that is looking at school sponsored clubs, student clubs, boosters, etc. and their funding mechanisms.   

3 REASONS WHY BUSINESSES SHOULD PARTNER WITH SCHOOLS
https://edlanta.org/2017/11/3-reasons-businesses-partner-schools/

What’s the one thing our teachers need to help them be better educators?
With all of the demands placed on teachers such as testing, curriculum, individualized learning plans, state standards, etc. I think teachers need some time and space to think about learning and their students. Why did they decide to join the teaching profession? Has it changed from how they were taught? Is the world a different place than it was even a few years ago, let alone a decade or two? The most important question is how do I best provide my students with what they need to be successful in the future. It is estimated that 65% of kindergarteners today will have a job/career that does not exist today. So how can we best prepare those students? We need to instill a growth mind-set teaching problem solving skills, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking – all with a community focus. In Upper Arlington, we are very privileged to have such a wealth of teaching experience and we need to pair that experience with the needs of our current and future student population. I believe our teachers are ready and willing to help create an eco-system that encourages these human skills and better create work-life balance for our students by teachers modeling that behavior.

6 Simple Ways to Become a Better Teacher
https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/04/6-simple-ways-to-become-a-better-teacher-for-your-students/

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?
Being an art teacher, this is an easy one for me. The arts are everywhere and should be integrated into everything we do – whether visual or performing. They give us life, laughter, appreciation, balance, peace and connectivity. The arts teach us many of the desired future-ready skills mentioned above like problem solving, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking as well as individuality. The arts teach us diversity, equity and inclusion. I believe the arts are the threads that create our tapestry of life. Everyone is an artist in one way or another. Unfortunately, many of our school experiences lead us to feel inadequate as our definition of art is far too narrow. 

I would encourage us to celebrate the arts as part of our regular school experience. Give students ways to express themselves in all of their classes. Let’s bring art and music into the classrooms and allow students to celebrate their own special gifts not just within a specific group such as band, choir, or art club, but fully integrated their talents as an integral part of school.  

Arts Integration in School: 10 Reasons Why It’s Important
https://www.senecaacademy.org/10-reasons-why-integrating-art-is-important-in-school/

Pencilstorm would like to thank Lori Trent for taking the time to answer our questions.  Learn more about Lori at her website: https://www.trent4kids.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.