Amanda Page

My daughter and I have lived in Redmond for seven years. During that time, Redmond has truly become our home. I was born and raised in Ft. Klamath, Oregon and attended schools in Chiloquin.

Although Ft. Klamath is a much smaller town, it isn’t that dissimilar to Redmond. There is a strong sense of community, people committed to living good lives, and tradition of service to our neighbors, just like here. It is where I learned how to stand up for what is right for my friends and neighbors. That’s why I’m running for school board.

Our schools aren’t a place to push political agendas. They are a place to educate our youth, expose them to new ideas, and teach them to think critically about the world they live in.

Through public education, we aren’t just teaching reading, math and science. We are training our kids to be good citizens and community members for the future. Students today are incredibly insightful and informed. They have had access to an abundance of information from a young age. Many students are capable of participating in-depth discussions on issues.

When candidates talk about returning to the fundamentals and focusing on the basics, I am perplexed. I’ve been spending time in our schools talking to students and teachers. I keep hearing over and over that students want to have classes that are engaging. Everyone struggled with the pandemic and there is some catching up to do, but they are ready to be challenged and do interesting things. The last thing school should be is boring.

In a Gallop Poll, 94% of teachers considered student engagement to be the most important metric to look at when determining student success. This isn’t the time to be pulling back on classes, curriculum, and clubs that drive engagement, it’s the time to push forward.

One example of where our schools are excelling in this is our Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. They are phenomenal. There are students gaining advanced computer-aided drafting certificates that make them not only highly employable after high school, but also prepared for a college education in engineering. Other students are learning robotics and creative design. Students who are engaged in CTE pathways are more likely to graduate high school, become employed and complete college prep course loads.

Again, returning to fundamentals is not the answer. We need to be pushing for student engagement.

Part of engagement is inspiration. I believe in setting high standards for kids, because our children are capable and want to achieve excellence. They just need the right resources and encouragement to ensure they can reach that goal. I know this because I grew up around poverty and community instability. However, when teachers demanded excellence, the students met the standard and often exceeded it.

I believe the character of a person is reflected in the company they keep. I am proud to be campaigning alongside two other amazing school board candidates. Liz Goodrich (incumbent) works at the library and has a long history of service to her community and of fighting for the best interests of our students on the school board. Brad Porterfield is the director of the Latin Community Association and participates on many boards and committees in our community. I couldn’t be prouder to stand by these two candidates during this election.

On May 16, please vote for the people who have a history of community service and longevity in the Redmond community.