WHY I SERVE

I have spent over twenty-eight years working with kids, as a coach, tutor, and wilderness trip leader, so it was no surprise that I became a teacher when I decided to make the Gunnison Valley my home. After earning my teacher’s license and eventually my Masters in education from Western Colorado University, I was proud and thrilled to take my experience into the classroom, teaching sixth, eleventh, and twelfth grade English at the Crested Butte Community School. 

​

It didn’t take long to realize that, as a teacher, I would do so much more than teach. I held a young woman while she cried just days after her mom passed away from cancer. I drank coffee with a young man while he explained his terrible loneliness and isolation from his family. I laughed as my students skated circles around me on the ice rink. I brainstormed “prom-posals” and listened to poems my students wrote in their free time. I started the day early to work with a student who had a severe learning disability and suffered years of gaps in his learning because of his tumultuous homelife. I huddled under my desk with my students while we wondered if we would hear gunshots in the hallway. 

​

My students let me in on the depth and breadth of what they experience, in school and out, good and bad. I saw their tremendous passion for life and their concerns for the future. From climate change to mental health, they wanted to understand how the world works and how to make it better. I tried to provide answers, but came to realize that I shared their questions and also yearned to make a difference. I realized that to love my students with my whole heart, I was called to step out of the classroom and into the arenas that affect their daily lives–and those of all Gunnison County residents. 

​

I serve as a County Commissioner so I can do the important work of setting policies and budgets that look out for my students’ best interests and ours. We all deserve to live in a county where we can live where we work, enjoy the great outdoors without loving them to death, and look ahead with the hope and optimism that come from knowing we’ve done the work to plan for a sustainable future.

​

As a teacher, I worked hard to create a classroom where kids felt heard, knew they belonged and had the safety and support to try new things and ask big questions. As your County Commissioner, I work to do the same by listening, weighing facts and perspectives, balancing competing priorities, and innovating to find the best path forward. I can’t promise that solving our challenges will be easy, but I can promise you I will be a strong, engaged leader. I am committed to Gunnison County, committed to our communities, and committed to you.  

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN ensuring a thriving future for Gunnison County.