Candidate: Teri Lee Barenborg

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Teri Barenborg and her husband Ed have been residents of Vero Beach for thirty three years. Their children all attended Dodgertown Elementary, Gifford Middle School and they all graduated from Vero Beach High School. All three children moved away to attend school and have all returned to the area that they love. Teri's grandson will be attending Indian River Schools in the near future.

In college, Teri began her career intending to teach physical education. As she took more and more elective classes in science, she began to think about a career in the medical field, however, one little boy redirected her focus. When she was afforded the opportunity to work with an autistic child at a local school in Vermont, she realized that her passion was working with children. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education, minor in Health Education and a concentration in Athletic Training. She went on later to add Middle School Sciences and Elementary Education concentrations to her resume and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership. Teri strives to put children first as they need strong advocates in their corner.

Teri has taught in elementary and middle schools and has served as an Assistant Principal, Principal and district science and STEAM specialists.  She is a co-author of eight curriculum books and was the former Varsity Girls Golf Coach for Vero Beach High School for ten years. She has also assisted a local charter school with their application to the state, which they received. 

In Indian River County, Teri taught at Dodgertown Elementary for seven years. While there, she started the first elementary science resource class for the school district. She had to present a petition to the school board in order to convince them to add the program, and won their support. 

While at Highlands Elementary (now Indian River Academy), Teri helped the school move from a grade of C to an A and it maintained an A or B status for the years that she was the Assistant Principal there. As the science specialist for the St. Lucie School District, she wrote and secured a large science grant and then organized local science centers to educate over one hundred teachers in a summer professional development program. As the principal of Garden City Elementary, she led the school through restructuring as it became an early learning center. As a district office instructional technology specialist, she worked with two schools that were struggling in the area of science, Lakewood Park Elementary and Samuel S. Gaines Academy. Both schools had significant increases in their science scores.  Lakewood Park’s scores increased by three percentage points which helped the school secure an increase in the school grade. Samuel S. Gaines’ scores increased by fifteen points, which was the largest gain in St. Lucie County.  

When she was a STEAM specialist for St. Lucie School District Teri assisted in writing a $12.5 million dollar STEAM federal grant that the district received in order to restructure three schools, then spent her last year there coaching teachers and teaching STEAM. She is also a KIDS At Hope trainer and was the principal of the first KIDS At Hope School in the state of Florida.

She ran for school board because she believes that children deserve the best education, and she is committed to serve her community while being fiscally responsible. As this year’s Chair of the School Board, she hopes to continue to contribute to the board’s success by actively listening, and  thinking critically and strategically in order to be an advocate for students, parents, teachers and administrators.

Community Involvement:

• Chair of the School District of Indian River County School Board
• Treasure Coast Council of Local Governments Board Chair
• Florida School Boards Association Policy Committee Member
• MCAN Member
• IRC Zoning and Planning Board Member
• Fellsmere Zoning and Planning Board Member
• Big Brother / Big Sister Volunteer
• Girl Scout Leader, Assistant Leader and Cookie Mom
• Cub Scout Leader
• Asbury Methodist Church Volunteer
• American Little League Volunteer
• Treasure Coast Junior Golf Tour Volunteer Coordinator
• Vero Beach Theatre Guild actor and stage manager
• Riverside Children’s Theatre Volunteer
• Indian River Golf Foundation Board Member
• St. Lucie Education Foundation Board Member
• The Florida State Instructional Materials Committee Member 
• The National Customer Advisory Board Member for Wards Scientific
• The Florida Association of Science Supervisors Member

Website:  https://Barenborg4schools.com