"𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼, 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸. I'm running for Rochester School Board Ward 2, seata A. I am I. This is my first time running for office.

While I may not know all the issues that exist with the Rochester system, I do know the 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. My mother was a school teacher when I was born. She was ma—she made sure as I grew up that I had a love of reading and later learning.

There were books read to me, and later, when I could read on my own, there were books for me to explore. We often went to our local library to get more books than were in our house.

I spent many summers in my early years, um, doing those educational workbooks that your parents could buy for you. There were usually 10 workbooks on a various topics that from the previous year that I just finished. These workbooks were a way of making sure that I didn't lose what I learned and kept my mind sharp as I was going through to the next school year.

My prize for finishing all the workbooks before the end of the summer was five new books of my choosing for me to read later on.

In my later years, she would proofread my papers and make sure I didn't slack off when I was bored in class, either because I already knew the topic or I wasn't interested in it. 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴.

Many would say I'm too inexperienced for the position because I have no children of my own. But I think that is a good thing. I don't have a dog in this fight. I can take my time to learn the issues with 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 and from all sides. It allows me to 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, no matter their learning style or level. I can then move forward with what I believe is best for everyone.

I want students to know more than just the standard book learning or teaching to the test. I want students to find the areas that bring them to their f future careers and their hobbies that will stay with them through adulthood. I believe that the best subjects are the ones that interest not just interest me but are the ones that say to the child and have me not say no you can't learn that.

I want 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 for our students. They should understand how checking accounts and loans work and how to read a contract before they sign it.

So please take your time and 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 in November. And thank you for your 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 the community."

Notes:

The Public Information and Community Engagement Office for the City of Rochester is pleased to announce that the Meet the Candidates video series is now available for viewing ahead of the upcoming Municipal Election.

The nonpartisan series introduces voters to candidates for Mayor, City Council, School Board, and Police Commission. Each candidate was given up to three minutes to speak directly to voters, share their priorities, and present their personal message.

To ensure fairness and transparency, all videos were recorded live in a single take, without edits, hosts, or predetermined questions.

The views and opinions expressed in the following video are those of the candidate and do not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Rochester, its elected officials or staff. The content is presented as part of a public information effort to provide equal opportunity for all candidates to address the community.

Transcript was taken directly from the GovTV website closed captioning. AI added bold/italic fonts for emphasis and separated paragraphs where appropriate.