Why I am qualified to be a School Board Member

By Ron Stoloff

I discuss my career in education and my qualifications.

First, I was a teacher in public school for 35 years and throughout those years was heavily involved in developing several successful reform movements + attempts to make the educational experience better for students. I think it is an excellent idea that someone on the Board know what life is like after the classroom door is closed where theory gives way to reality as only students and teachers are left to interact. No Board member, without this experience, can meet and make judgments about the future of our schools and I plan to share my experiences as we wrestle with all the problems that face modern education.

While attending a recent Board meeting I was startled to discover that the Wissahickon School District is investigating the use of Small Learning Communities (SLCs). I found this fascinating: This is what I was involved in for the last 15 years of my carrier. I was one of the founding members of an SLC + then called a Charter. Following that I was a member and then chair of the Restructuring Council in my school as we heard and decided which SLC proposals would be accepted as we moved into Career Centered SLC's + the very same path Wissahickon is pursuing now.

Because of this I feel that I would be an excellent resource for the Board if I am elected.

I attended Temple University and received a Masters from Beaver/Arcadia University and was involved in writing and testing curricula for high school. I made many presentations at numerous conferences on the implementation of technology in the classroom and was the technology coordinator at my school.

Since my retirement I've been involved in a program that recycles computers and offers them at low cost or gives them away for free and have arranged for over 150 students at my former school to get these life changing tools.

I loved getting up each morning and heading out to teach and hope that part of my responsibility on the new Board will be to help support that passion in our teachers and lift burdens that come between the teacher and the student so that we can look forward to our students making us all proud of their achievements in the Wissahickon School District.

Finally, check out our web site, The Great School Team at http://www.GreatSchoolTeam.org for more information about me and the others running with me: Theresa Williams, incumbent, Val Burton and Chris Cormier. All three have, had, or soon will have, children in the District.