School Board Dist. 3 candidate Nan Holmes with her family. Courtesy photoHello Los Alamos:
I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to invite community members to join me in conversations about our schools.
For those who don’t know me, I am Nan Holmes, Los Alamos resident of 17 years. I was appointed to the School Board in September 2014 and I am now running to retain my seat as the District 3 representative.
As a parent with children in the Los Alamos Schools, I am excited to have a voice in this system. My son started at Mountain Elementary in 2004 and I have been engaged as a volunteer since that time. With my children now at Los Alamos Middle School and Los Alamos High School, I have had the opportunity to work with the teachers and administrations at all levels: hearing about their successes, failures and learning about their needs. I have volunteered at the schools and in the community in the Hot Lunch Program, Mountain’s PTA, District Parent Council, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Topper Advisory Committee, Los Alamos Family Council, most recently JJAB, and will be involved in the Community Resiliency Committee.
What all of these committees have in common is providing an opportunity for the community to share their concerns so that we can work together to solve our issues and make changes when necessary. As a School Board member I see this as one of our most valuable roles. I have spoken publicly about the importance of open communication and having information available to the community. While it is not the role or appropriate for the Board to be involved in all issues, it is definitely our role to serve as a conduit for communication between the district and the community. I would love to see a forum where concerns can be brought to our attention.
To this end I have suggested that Board members should consider ways to lowering barriers to communication. I am hosting such an opportunity at Film Festival twice before the election Feb. 3: today 5-7 p.m. and 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Jan. 30. I will be at Film Festival, located at 3801 Arkansas. I welcome anyone in the District to come and meet me. Joining me will be Jenny McCumber, candidate for District 5 and Judy Bjarke-McKenzie, School Board President. Thank you to Film Festival for providing the venue to meet.
If I am elected, we can continue to host these conversations. More importantly than hearing what the candidates have to say, we need to hear what the community has to say. We need to hear your concerns and successes. The School Board is here to support the students, teachers, but also the community. Being on the School Board is one of the most important jobs in Los Alamos and I would love to continue to be a part of it.
I am running to retain my seat on the School Board not because I have an agenda, but because I want to serve and make a difference.
