Candidate: Paul Anderson

I am running for School Board District 4 because I think our kids are worth it. We need to provide the best possible opportunities for all our students, whether they enter the workforce after graduation or further their education at a four year or technical school. Our goal should be to convince our students that their best possible chance for success is to make good choices. Responsibility is the key and should be reinforced through positive and negative consequences. Teaching good problem solving skills starts with learning good initial decision making and we need to ensure our students learn the difference between a good decision and a bad one before they enter Middle School. These are great talking points but how do we do it? For me it starts with listening to teachers, staff and parents to find out what is and isn’t working. For those things that are working then we find ways to repeat the process. For those things that aren’t working we need to first identify them and then stop doing them. It sounds like a simple concept but it is hard to change that “we’ve always done it this way” mentality. True collaboration starts with asking questions. I am not afraid to ask tough questions and I’m also not afraid to admit what I don’t know. I do my homework and I earn the trust of others by being trustworthy. If I am told something in confidence you can be confident that I’m going to keep that trust. We do a great job cheering about what we’re good at in Flagler County but we’re not so good at looking at what we do with a critical eye. We need to feel OK about pointing out our faults and fixing them instead of perpetuating failure by ignoring them. Our challenge is to prepare our students for the jobs and careers of the future. We need to recognize that not every productive job requires a four year degree and successful careers can begin with technical or vocational training. I think we can meet that challenge and I would like to help our students realize, with hard work, they truly have the opportunity to do anything.