Amber Langworthy, 44
Position 5 candidate
Springfield School Board
■ Hometown: Lebanon, Ind.
■ Family: Married, spouse senior director of Core Facilities Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact … 9-year-old at Yolanda Elementary and 25-year-old Student at PCC’s EMT program.
■ Employer, occupation: Full-time parent … volunteer for the Trauma Intervention Program (TIP) of Lane County … in an online national cohort with CommonSense Media
■ Leadership style: Engaged.
■ At your best: Dynamic.
■ At your worst: Good grief..I do cuss a lot at my worst.
CANDIDATE COLUMN
As the mother of a third grader in Springfield, I try to follow my kiddos’ education as closely as I can. While I am grateful to the many hardworking people in our school district, I have found too many areas needing change. I am running for the School Board, position 5, to help improve our schools.
My vision for a better SPS is what guides my candidacy. Our students, families, and staff deserve to be heard and supported. Our community needs greater transparency in how our schools operate. It is time to build a school system where every child thrives, every educator and support staff member feels valued, and every family feels clearly informed.
At a recent school board candidate forum hosted by SAfER at the Bob Keefer Center, the other candidates and I fielded questions from a panel of student interviewers. Their questions were important, relevant, and focused. One question especially caught me — about disability access in our older school buildings. I had to admit to the student that I wasn’t up on this issue, so I asked her to tell me about her experiences. She did tell her story — a powerful, personal account of the difficulties she had trying to access the single elevator in Springfield High School. Then another student on the questioning panel spoke up about her experiences, and then another and another. This completely changed the forum from student questioners with adult answers, to students speaking and informing the adults.
I share this story to prove a point: While everyone believes that kids deserve to be heard about their education, it is too rare that they are given the opportunity. My question sparked the reality of that desire and made it real. At the end of the forum we candidates were asked if we would consider a follow-up student-to-board conversation. We all agreed, and I was proud that my question back to them moved the discussion forward.
As a school board member I will work with my colleagues to increase input from not only our students, but also our precious teachers, classified support staff, principals, parents, community activists. This will increase our understanding, help clarify our needs, and build transparency.
I want to bring the public back into our public schools.
