The North Santiam School District Board of Directors has welcomed three new members: Mark Henderson, Coral Ford and Mackenzie Strawn.
“I wanted to be a part of raising the future leaders of this town,” said Strawn about what motivated him to run. “I’d been working with the construction class for several years and seemed to becoming more and more involved with the school and close to a number of the staff, and then a few of my friends got together and encouraged me to run.”
Strawn said he is “a little bit obsessed with our local history and geography.” He is the third generation of his family to live
in Stayton.
“I went to kindergarten through grade 12 in Stayton,” he said. “Mom taught in the district through most of the ‘90s and my dad was on the board during some of that time. I also own and operate a small business here and have employed a number of Stayton graduates.”
Admittedly not the most talkative person, Strawn said people might mistake his quietness for shyness or disinterest, but the reality is he needs to take time to think through issues before he speaks. Some of those issues are moving past the pandemic, choosing what’s best for the community to instill a love of learning in students, and helping students to discover their calling.
“And looking for ways to build links from traditional disciplines like reading writing and arithmetic to those callings and passions,” he said.
Strawn embraces encouraging students to consider career technical training as a viable option in place of college. He sees career training as critical to the future of Stayton and something that should be expanded.
“I believe as a society we have let ourselves down by dissuading generations of children from work in the trades,” he said. “I would like to work directly with local businesses to develop specific classes and trainings that would make possible a student going directly from graduation to a good wage job in their chosen industry.”
Henderson is also for continued improvement to the areas of career and trades training as well as STEM education and school security.
“Whether is was organizing the submittal of box tops and Campbell’s labels, working on PTA events, budget board, or school board membership, I’ve always tried to be involved with my boy’s schooling,” Henderson said.
He considers himself a good listener who has an open mind with issues until all of the facts have been addressed.
“I’m an engineer by trade, so I tend to be very analytical,” he said. “So, with financial issues, I am very supportive of the secure financial state that Superintendent Andy Gardner and our CFO, Jane Nofziger, have created. I will do my best to continue this legacy of financial security through our uncertain times.”
Facing several challenges in the days ahead will be a top priority, Henderson said.
“One that will affect every student is the transition to a ‘Post/Trailing COVID-19’ educational environment,” he said. “We will be striving to return to as close of a ‘normal’ school year as possible.”
Ford’s motivation to serve can be traced back to 1972, when her mother dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to marry her father who was completing his military term at the end of the Vietnam War.
“Early on in their marriage they experienced significant hardships, which caused me to attend nine different schools in four different states during my K-12, as well as our family of six living in significant poverty,” Ford said. “When I was age 7, my father made the decision to go to college in hopes of providing a better life for our family.”
A degree qualified her father for a higher paying job which provided the family with a more secure living environment and Ford with more stability in her later years of school.
“When I was 14, my mother obtained her GED, and advanced in her career into leadership roles,” she said. “Both parents, later in my life, realized the importance of education and pushed my siblings and me to pursue adequate college and technical training, which has served us well in our adult life.”
Ford said many NSSD students are faced with similar if not more challenging circumstances.
“My family was able to rise above it, but so many families are stuck in the repetitive cycle of poverty,” she said. “My heart goes out to these families, and I want to be part of an effort to reduce hurdles and challenges they may be experiencing.”
Ford wants NSSD students to thrive and go on to have successful lives and careers.
As a State of Oregon senior contracts and procurement officer, Ford has put her talents to work on various committees which she hopes to use in her role as a board member.
The majority of her career has focused on training and development committees; serving as a subject matter expert for an average of 50-60 State procurement projects annually (mostly focusing on health policy and healthcare related topics).
She also served on the NSSD Budget Committee; the NSSD Long Range Planning Committee; the Stayton High School FFA Alumni Committee as treasurer; the Oregon FFA Association; Marion and Linn County Precinct Committee Person in her political party as well as a term on the Marion County Executive Committee as an alternate delegate; and a large number of volunteer committees in her church.
