Bridgette Muller’s motivation is the success and future of a great school. The school is near and dear to her since she is an alumnus, her father is an alumnus, and she wants her children to be alumni. She wants to see the school succeed for many years to come. Through all the hardships of smaller schools closing, consolidating, etc., Avon High School has the potential to stay open, but that doesn’t come without having: strict budgets, limited spending, leadership who wants the same success, great educators and student population.

Muller believes a school board member must have an open-door policy and the ability to listen. There have been some tough decisions made within the last year, but those decisions are not based solely on personal opinion or circumstances. They have to listen to parents, students, educators, staff, etc. A successful board member will reach out to staff, see what their feelings are, not just rely on the administration to provide feedback. To get a true feeling, they have to get to a personal level, so those that aren’t with the majority get to have their voices heard also. Each educator is important and has a lot to offer to the school district, so they need to make time to listen to them all, regardless of their feelings toward a specific subject or issue at hand. Everybody is important.

The mission of the Avon School is to ensure that all students successfully reach their potential. As a school board member, that mission statement is your number one responsibility. Beyond that, the focus would be on establishing policies, still with the mission statement in mind. Those policies then would need to be enforced, so you work with the administration of the school, to ensure the enforcement is taking place, fairly and professionally. The school board members also need to have tight control on the budget and spending. As school board members, they need to look at requests and budgets and act as if it is their home. Would you replace items in your home if they aren’t worn out or not in need of replacing? Is it a priority? That is the way that a board member should think.

Having an open relationship with the community, whether it be current students and parents, past students and parents, retired community members, etc., has to be a major priority of the school board and school district. Those community members, no matter who they are, are the support of the school district in one form or another. Looking at our community, they will find a large number of Avon graduates or whose children have graduated from Avon, and whose grandchildren are attending Avon. These community members have one goal also, for the school to be successful for many years into the future. What will the future of Avon be without an education system for our children, grandchildren?

Social Media has its pros and cons. It is a great way to promote the happenings within the school, the education of the children, the hard work of the educators. I do think we could use it a little more, and get those highlights of our school district known to the community. Show them that Avon takes pride in their students, education, and educators. Social Media is a great way to contact the public of upcoming events, but it can never be the only form of communication to the parents, students, and community, as not everyone has social media. We still rely on the phone system, posters, newspapers, etc., to potentially reach ‘everybody’. As stated, social media can also have some cons. They need to have a good balance of display between Academics and Athletics. Also, we have to do more promoting on the Academics/Education of the district. They need to promote our educators and the hard work we give to our children and grandchildren. In a normal week, those educators are with our children more than parents are. Without those teachers, what would we do? Avon is known for the athletic program, past and current, but they need to begin promoting more on the academic side, and not forget about those other extracurricular activities out there such as drama, oral interpretation, one-act play, choir, band, science club, etc. Not all students are involved in the contact activities, and we as a district and community need to provide support to all those programs equally. Nobody can accomplish the task of educating our children alone. It will require teamwork for everybody involving children, parents, community, staff, educators, administration, and the school board. The success of the school cannot be claimed by one person, one group, etc. TEAM: T: Together, E: Everybody, A: Achieves, M: More.

School boards are limited by the time spent meeting. It requires them to prioritize what’s important. First and foremost, success for the students. They always need to be the main thing on all the board members’ minds. Secondary to that, then the financial standpoint needs to be looked at. For example: If the need for an improvement, replacement curriculum is needed and it is not in the budget, then what out there isn’t a priority that is in the budget? The education of those students can never be put on the back burner, for any reason.

Honest and open communication, fairness to all students, and accountability. If they cannot have honesty and open communication, the future is not so bright. They are in a world where social media can take off and people use it to vent, however, that doesn’t solve any problems it can cause more problems. When items are brought up, they need to be owned up to. Those on the board are all adults, and they need to be setting the example for our students. They cannot expect students to be honest, be fair and be accountable, if the board feels they are invisible to follow any policies or standards put into place, regardless of personal feelings or opinions.

A major challenge being faced, not only in our district but in districts throughout the state is decreased enrollment. Decreased enrollment may also bring decreased state funding. So then, if the funding goes down, the financial status of the school also needs to be looked at. As discussed before, they need to look at what is needed and what is wanted. Just like buying Christmas presents for the kids, yeah, they want that, but do they need it?

A second challenge is what they can do to bring more students into our district, or more importantly, keep students in our district? They need more positive promotion of our school district. Schools surrounding us may have more to offer to students, which can become a roadblock for our small district. They may not be able to offer those classes, sports, etc., but what can they do to keep the students within our district and get them involved in what they are interested in? What can Avon offer; what options are out there; what research and footwork can be done?