By SALINA POST
During the weeks leading up to Election Day 2023, Salina Post will be publishing a series of profiles introducing the community to the six Salina City Commission candidates and school board member candidates for USD 306, USD 305, and USD 307.
The Salina Post sent questionnaires to the candidates asking for biographical information, initiatives they hope to champion as a board member, and why they chose to run for school board.
If you live outside of Saline County check with your local elections officer for election deadlines.
Cheryl Higgins
What is your Age?
55
What is your profession?
Retired from being a Registered Nurse in the Birth Center at Salina Regional where I spent my entire career
Are you an incumbent?
yes
Give a brief bio on yourself in 100 words or less:
I am a lifetime resident of Salina. I graduated from Sacred Heart and would have graduated from Marymount if they wouldn’t have closed, so I commuted to finish my last year at Bethel College in Newton. My Husband David and I have been living in the Ell-Saline school district for the last 27 years. Both of our daughters are Ell-Saline graduates and now we have one grandson at the gradeschool and the other is at the Middle School. Since retiring I have had the goal of giving back to my community. I am in the Child of God ministry through St Mary’s Church, my husband and I have become master gardeners. We were on the garden tour in 2022 and now I am co-chair of the garden tour committee for the 2024 tour. I am president of the Smoky Hills Audubon and I am on the board of Ell-Saline Cardinal Foundation.
As a school board member what specific initiatives or policies would you prioritize or improve educational outcomes and support the overall well-being of students in our community?
My priorities for improving educational outcomes is to give our students the tools they need to succeed. Be that if their goal is to graduate high school or to get a doctorate level education. I am a huge proponent of giving our students the strongest educational experience possible. So I am very proud that our district is able to update our science department in the middle school/ high school with new curriculum and facilities. I feel that this will be very beneficial in having the ability to do hands-on experiments that will reinforce what they are learning. Also updating curriculum in our other departments. Another important goal is to continue to increase our enrollment at our school.
In recent years many books have been removed from the shelves of public libraries due to their alleged inappropriate content. As a school board member where do you stand on this issue?
I feel that the books in our libraries have been carefully chosen for our students and that we do not have an issue with this.
Parental engagement and community involvement are crucial for the success of any school district. What strategies would you implement to increase collaboration between parents and educators?
I feel that our parents and community are the heart of our school. We have fantastic parents and alumni. They are involved in our community, some are even educators and staff at our school. That is one of the best things about Ell-Saline. We are family and care about every one of our students. Another thing that is a huge benefit to our district is the Brookville Community Foundation. They have goals of improving the community and with that the schools as well. They have donated the new scoreboard to our football field and have more plans to collaborate with us for more improvements to the district.
With the scoreboard, we will be able to incorporate how to run the scoreboard into an educational opportunity for our students. The other thing that is fantastic about our district is the Cardinal Foundation. We have a once-a-year event where our community is very generous.
With the funds that are raised we are able to award grants to our staff that directly improves the educational experience for our students. We have a great turn out for parent teacher conferences. We have done some adjusting to continue to improve this process and we will continue to evaluate how those changes are working. We have technology in place for there to be a direct link from parents to teachers to stay up on how things are going with our students, be that to see where their grades are at in real time to many of our elementary teachers sending pictures and videos of special activities.
We have been focusing on updating our website so that parents and community are kept informed of what is going on in the district. I have a strong desire to continue to improve getting the communication from the district out to our parents.
Please explain why you are running for USD 307 school board:
I have a strong desire to see our students succeed. Be that in getting good grades and excelling in State assessments to success in sports, any of our many clubs, supporting their fellow student body, or giving back to their community. But especially seeing them graduate and have the tools to be and do whatever their hearts desire. If I can have even a little hand in that then I feel that my job on the school board is a success.