Wyandotte school board election Q&A

Page 6 | October 25 - November 20, 2018 | WYANDOTTE WARRIOR

Wyandotte school board election Q&A

Seven candidates are vying for four seats on the Wyandotte Board of Education. Four incumbents — Kathryn Petrowski Bedikian, Cynthia Kinney, Patrick Sutka and Michael Swiecki — hope to retain their board status. Three challengers — Ken Bearden, Theresa Crnkovich and Spencer Genrich — also hope for a seat at the board table.

Bearden, 49, formerly served on the Wyandotte Downtown Development Authority’s Beautification Commission and also is a board member with The Information Center. His two children attended Wyandotte schools. Bearden spent 24 years as a communications professional in healthcare and public health.

Bedikian, 55, a graduate of Roosevelt High School, has three children who also graduated from Wyandotte’s high school, and her fourth child attends Wilson Middle School. She is a nurse midwife and faculty member at The University of Michigan, and has been involved with school board committees since 2005.

Crnkovich, 47, has two children: One, a graduate of Roosevelt, is in college and one is attending Wilson Middle School. Crnkovich had master’s degree in curriculum from the University of Michigan- Dearborn, and has taught elementary school, middle school, adult education and university students. She currently supervises student teachers for Eastern Michigan University.

Genrich, 23, has a degree in psychology and dance from Wayne State University, and works as a research lab coordinator at WSU studying female adolescents with trauma exposure. She also teaches dance at Downriver Dance Academy, performs and choreographs in productions with the Downriver Actors Guild, and is an active member of WSU’s Sexual Assault and Violence Education Team.

Kinney, 59, has a son who graduated from Roosevelt. She is an experienced emergency care nurse who works as a stroke and sepsis coordinator for Beaumont Hospital in Wayne. Kinney is a member of the Wayne County Crisis Response Team and a member of the advisory board at Dorsey Emergency Medical Academy.

Sutka, 51, served on the Wyandotte City Council from 1997-2009. He has been on the Wyandotte Board of Education since 2009. He also has served on the Wyandotte Department of Municipal Service Commission. His two daughters graduated from Roosevelt, where his wife is a social worker. Sutka is a certified public accountant who works as treasurer

and chief financial officer for Nicholson Terminal & Dock Co.

Swiecki, 59, has been on the board for 25 years. He is a Roosevelt graduate, as are his children. Now his grandchildren attend Wyandotte schools. He and his wife own C.J. & Sons LLC, which sells and installs industrial storage fixtures and systems. As a member of the Michigan Association of School Boards, he has continued his own education and attained a Level 6, Master Platinum Certified Board Member Award.

We asked the candidates to answer three questions.

Q: Why are you running for a seat on the board?

Bearden: I hope to build upon the excellent efforts of our system by seeing every idea through the filter of how we best serve Wyandotte’s students and families: Does this make education better for students? Does it improve our system? Is it a responsible use of our families’ tax dollars? Building strong schools impacts our community in ways that reach beyond education. It makes Wyandotte a desirable location for new families, who will be inclined to stay in our city for potentially decades — decades of students and graduates, and families with decades of investment in our school system and community involvement. Our schools should be a cornerstone of residency decisions for Wyandotte.

Bedikian: I wish to be re-elected to the Wyandotte Board of Education because I have much more work to do! During my 13 years on the board I have gained experience and historical perspective. I have been a champion for students (having four children of my own; it is part of the job description!). During my time on the board I have worked with the Reproductive Health Curriculum Committee, the Safety/Security Committee and student policy.

I have been involved in a bond initiative, a book challenge, a controversy over the name of our marching band, the hiring of two superintendents among other successes and struggles. I have the experience, intelligence and passion and want to continue to advocate for the children of Wyandotte Public Schools in the same fierce way that I have advocated for my own children.

Crnkovich: I would like the opportunity to serve the families of Wyandotte Public Schools. Both my father and father-in-law graduated from RHS in the 1960s, and after my daughter graduated in 2018, I reflected on how much WPS means to my family.

I have served WPS in a lot of different ways as a parent — chaperoning field trips, sitting on parent committees, cutting orange slices for the middle school soccer team, coordinating lunch for the Wyandotte Marching Chiefs, working shifts at book fairs or Santa’s secret shop — and I loved doing all those things.

I see being a trustee as an opportunity to bring my experiences as a parent together with my experience as an educator to serve my community and the children of WPS.

Genrich: If there is anything I have learned from the many activities I have involved myself in over the years, is that I am most passionate about working with youth and making sure they succeed. By that I don’t just mean academic success; I want to help shape them into leaders and good human beings. Wyandotte Public Schools provided me with those opportunities to be the successful woman I am today. I want to continue that work and even help provide better resources than what I had.

Kinney: When I made my decision to run for the Wyandotte school board four years ago, the decision came from many years of being active within our schools and community. My son attended Wyandotte Public Schools, graduating in 2013. I was one of the many mothers at McKinley Elementary who offered assistance and support to the entire school, not just my child’s classroom. I was able to make many life-lasting bonds with students, teachers and parents. During my son’s sporting years, I learned about hockey, managed teams and was elected to the Wyandotte Hockey board holding positions of secretary and awards coordinator, developing programs that both focused on academic and sport achievements.

During marching band years, I served proudly as their nurse and volunteer coordinator. I have never been afraid to jump in with both feet to become involved; always demonstrating an instilled puritan work ethic and mindset. When school was over for my son, I chose to seek election to serve our wonderful committee on our local school board and was proudly elected.

I am very dedicated and passionate in all I do, using integrity, honesty and the belief in doing the right thing during even the toughest decision making. I hope our community will give me another four years to continue to service them. I am seeking re-election

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Continued from Page 6 to continue to help move our school district forward.

Sutka: I want to continue to play an active role in shaping Wyandotte’s future. I believe I have the qualities, skills, experience and desire to be an effective leader in this very important position. I want to give back to my community. My wife Maria and I, both lifetime residents, have raised our family in Wyandotte and want to see continued improvement in the district. The decisions made by the Board of Education are very important to our community as a whole.

Swiecki: I think we should leave the world in better shape than we found it. We do that by making our children successful. I think I have made a difference over the years and I feel like I still have more to offer

Q: What do you bring to the school board?

Bearden: I think I can be very effective in clearly defining strategic priorities for the board, and using those definitions as a consistent “north star” to guide decisions and policy. I believe analyzing issues to understand what is strategic and non-strategic helps clear a path and identify new growth opportunities. I want to be an advocate, a roadblock-clearer, but most of all, help the board to drive strategy and create and maintain policy, and to put the right people in place to execute that strategy and uphold that policy.

Bedikian: Experience. I have been on the board since 2005, but I have been involved continually in the Wyandotte Public Schools for 24 years. On the board I have served on many committees as an officer in each position and have been mentored by excellent board members and staff. I am a Level III Award of Distinction Board Member, and have continually educated myself regarding board service and put that education into practice.

As part of my employment at The University of Michigan, I am on the faculty and take part in the education and evaluation of midwifery students, medical students and resident physicians. That role gives me perspective, but being a board member is not the same as being an educator. Our role is to support the superintendent and staff by eliminating barriers to education and helping to create an environment where excellence may flourish. We do this work by being stewards of the budget – one of our most important roles.

Crnkovich: As a lifelong Wyandotte resident, educator and parent, I bring a unique blend of qualifications to the board. My roots are deep in Wyandotte, and I love raising my family in the same community where I grew up. In my current job as a student teaching supervisor for Eastern Michigan University, I am in classrooms every day, so I keep up with the latest trends and policies in education. I was a classroom teacher myself, so I recognize the important work that teachers do and what they need to do their job well.

My most important quality is that I understand kids—I chose to be a teacher because I loved working

with kids and guiding their learning, and as a trustee, I would vote and make decisions with students’ futures in mind.

Genrich: Ultimately, I think I bring diversity to the school board. I have a young, progressive voice that is currently lacking representation. As a RHS graduate in 2013, I believe I’m still very in touch with the resources students need to be successful in and out of the classroom. Furthermore, one of my strongest skills is critically thinking through decision making from an intersectional point of view, meaning I take into consideration the different background and lifestyles of the population we are providing a decision for to make sure it is an inclusive resolution for the group as a whole.

Kinney: Since being elected, I having sought many avenues to further educate myself to board policies, state and federal regulations, legislation both new and old, along with many other facets of education that guide and change our districts operations and principles. This I have done with the help of the Michigan Association of School Boards, fellow board members and our administration. It has helped to see the abilities and opportunities we have by discovering the many avenues available to our district.

I stay actively involved with students, parents, teachers, administrators and community, and I am always willing to listen to all sides to help come up with constructive and agreeable resolutions. If reelected, I will continue to seek education the entire time I remain on the Wyandotte school board and my engagement with our schools and community will remain strong and active.

Sutka: I have significant experience in both business and government. My education, professional training and political experience provide me with the necessary tools to make the important decisions required of the school board. I have had an extensive career with a Downriver business as chief financial officer, and I also hold a CPA license. I believe I have the knowledge, especially in the area of financial management, to address the current situation and position our district for a better future.

Swiecki: I bring 25 years of experience, and I am continuing my own education in the field. I am currently working on the highest level of state certification for school board members.

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing the district?

Bearden: Wyandotte’s chief challenges are economics and demographics. Our population is aging and young families are starting later, staying smaller and being choosier about where they settle. In southeast Michigan, 14.2 percent of residents are 65 and older; by 2030, this segment may be 25 percent. This creates multiple issues: How do we size our schools? How do we get kids across the district to centralized locations? How do we keep teachers who can move to better opportunities from leaving our system?

A first step in addressing this is making

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Wyandotte’s schools a deciding factor for new families choosing a community. We’re already drawing new students from outside our district. I think we should go even further, and use our schools as a reason for families to choose Wyandotte, not just for their students’ best opportunity, but as a place they want to live and thrive.

Bedikian: Student achievement is the greatest challenge. We must prepare students for higher education, employment and the economics of living. Providing our district with the most highly skilled teachers who have access to the most cutting edge resources is where we begin, so they may provide instruction in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), arts, vocational programs and global languages. Giving them the tools to succeed in these areas is paramount, and it is my main focus as a board member.

Crnkovich: Some of the challenges educators face in 2018 are getting our kids ready for the world in which they will live and work and making sure they are safe and cared for so they are ready to learn. When I was in elementary school, I could not have imagined that my adult life would have cellphones and social media. Today, teachers work to equip kids with the skills they need to be critical thinkers, to be strong communicators and to be educated consumers of media and technology so they can be successful in our digital age.

Additionally, supporting students who have a variety of needs is crucial so they are safe and can learn and grow. In Wyandotte, we have always done a good job of taking care of each other, but it’s an ongoing challenge because every child has unique strengths and challenges. Providing families, teachers and administration with the support and tools they need is a key job of the school board.

Genrich: I believe the biggest challenge facing the district right now is student mental health. We need to be taking more action for the care of our students. I think we forget that depression isn’t exclusive to adults. It is important to tell our students: “Your feelings are valid, how do we help?” We need to raise more awareness for the resources that are available through the schools, but also in the community. I have a lot of ideas for implementing a system that allows staff and students to check on one another’s well-being and would be more than happy to discuss those further.

Kinney: This question encompasses many topics: funding; testing; academic, career and technical education offerings; and mental health concerns to name just a few. They are forever overlapping and entwining.

Funding since Proposal A (1994) promised fair and equal revenue to all districts; unfortunately, this has not occurred. Today we can no longer look at equal funding but equitable funding; funding for the needs of the students/district.

Mandated state testing looms heavily over the

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