Miembre de Junta —

Lorena Chavez is a proud native of the East Side of San Jose, CA. She is also a proud East Side High School District graduate who is running for the East Side Union High School District School Board.

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When Lorena graduated from UC Davis, she went back to her community in 2008 to teach math. Lorena has always believed that regardless of where students come from, they need to be held to the highest standards, while given appropriate and differentiated resources, so that they could be college and career ready, and have opportunities in life. Lorena understands, like no one else, what many students in the East Side experience. That is why that in just her second year as a teacher, Lorena started the AVID program at her school.

 

Lorena was a part of the achievement gap herself, she taught students who were a product of the achievement gap, and also had the opportunity to lead teachers in the East Side as a principal, in working towards closing the achievement gap. As a mother raising two children in the San Jose community, Lorena is determined to do whatever it takes to ensure that all students in the East Side have access to a world- class education.

Kristiina is a proud third-generation resident and product of Campbell Union High School District.  After graduating from Leigh High School, Kristiina studied Spanish and Communication at UC Davis.

 

After college, Kristiina began her career as a bilingual 4th and 5th grade teacher in Fort Worth, Texas.  Most of her students were from underserved backgrounds and many entered the school-year below grade level.  Kristiina was dedicated to her students both inside and outside the classroom, and as a result her students saw on average 1.5 years worth of gains in just one year.  After her first year, Kristiina began working to expand her impact. She became a mentor teacher and grade level coach, started a New Teacher Academy, designed and executed professional development for all the teachers on her campus, and coached the school soccer team.

 

In 2015, Kristiina made the tough decision to leave the classroom in order to take on a full-time teacher coaching position here in San Jose.  Since moving back, she has worked with over seventy-five teachers in at least twenty different schools in various districts in the area. One step removed from the classroom, Kristiina has continued to have a direct impact on students through volunteering her time in our juvenile justice system by teaching a law-related education class to incarcerated youth, and serving as a court-appointed advocate for youth on probation.

 

Bringing this education experience, unique perspective, and fresh energy, Kristiina was selected in 2016 out of over twenty applicants to serve on the CUHSD Board of Trustees.  She currently serves as the board clerk and as a liaison to the student board members. Kristiina is running for her second term on the Campbell Union High School School Board.

I was born and raised  in the New York Tri-state area.  After receiving my engineering degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology and because Silicon Valley is the "If I can make it there I'll make it anywhere" place for engineers, I relocated to San Jose.

I worked for a legendary Silicon Valley software company in a range of positions from software development to system integration and implementation to sales, eventually starting my own consulting firm.  After taking time off from my career to stay at home with my children, I have been working in the Life Sciences industry for the past 8 years deploying information technology to solve complex business problems.

When my oldest son began kindergarten I was stunned at the state of public school funding in CA.  Our school actually held bake sales to raise money.  So I got involved and eventually ran for and was elected to the Cambrian School Board.

Half way through my term in Cambrian my oldest son, Matt, started high school.  We were both excited and little nervous.  On that first back to school night I was really taken aback by two things I observed.  First, the physical condition of the school was disheartening.  It was just run down.  But more importantly when I entered my son’s classroom I had a strong sense of Déjà vu.  His classroom looked exactly the same as the one I sat in 30 years earlier.  I think the chalk board had been replaced by a dry erase board.  That was my motivation for running for this seat four years ago, I felt that our high schools were not doing enough to prepare our children for 21st century careers.

I'm very proud of our accomplishments over the past four years, however, there is still more work ahead of us in order to make our schools places where students feel safe, valued and supported so that they can construct their futures.  As an experienced, independent trustee with children currently attending and recently graduated from a CUHSD high school, I am uniquely qualified to drive the changes our students deserve.  Decisions are made in the Board room and better decisions are made with the parent perspective of student life.  

 

 

 

I believe great schools are the foundation of strong communities.  I believe education is essential to our children's future, and I believe it is our responsibility as citizens to get involved.  That is why for the past eight years I have served our community as a trustee in both the Cambrian and Campbell Union High School Districts.  It has been a privilege to serve in this capacity and I am very proud of our accomplishments such as:

• Bringing in new leadership with fresh perspectives and instructional vision
• Adding counselors to each site to address the academic and emotional needs of our students
• Raising graduation requirements in order to increase post secondary opportunities for our students
• Offering dual enrollment, with credit for high school and community college classes allowing students to graduate high school with transferable college credit
• Passing Measure AA to create better learning spaces for our students
• Improving access to technology, especially for low income students
• Establishing an Education Foundation

I am seeking your support to continue my service to our community because there is still much work to be done to make our schools places where students feel safe, supported and valued so that they can construct their futures.

My priorities:

Adapt instruction and course offerings to the needs of the current generation of learners. We all share a vested interest in public education since it is meant to prepare our children for their future livelihood. The transition to the 21st century, makes those future careers difficult to comprehend.  Past methods make little sense to today’s students who learn and think differently, and they make little sense in relation to the changing workplace.  High school should be a place where students can discover their interests and develop necessary skills.  With your support we will make it so.

Attract, retain and develop top talent.  A great teacher in every classroom supported by a community of staff, administrators, mentors, and parents.  That's what it takes.  I will continue to prioritize the strategies and relationships necessary and hold our district leaders accountable to attain the results we need.

Increase District Revenue.  Every school district in California is facing the same issue.  Statutory costs such as pension contributions are rising faster than revenue causing structural budget deficits that will lead to cuts in programs. The CUHSD Board has recently put forward a plan to repurpose the district office site to generate approximately $1.5 Million of unrestricted revenue, annually, in perpetuity, without raising taxes.  This is just the first step.  Our entire community must come together to keep Campbell Union High School District fiscally strong for this and future generations.

Most importantly, I will be an independent voice that always puts the interest of our children first and will ensure they have the best preparation possible to become successful, lifetime learners.  I'd be honored to have your vote. Together we can make a difference.

 

 

 

 

Professional Experience

 

 

 

Cisco Systems, Inc.                                                           April 1996 – September 2002, April 2014 - present

 

·       High Touch Operations Manager: Facilitated renewal of 5-year and 2-year Technical Services (TS) Contract, Lead TS Teams in Public and Commercial sectors. Supported Fortune 6 company with $179 billion in annual revenue. Initiated and lead Joint Business Review (JBR) Forum. Created JBR template and early member of STAR HTOM Program Team. Mentor and serve as Lead facilitator in company-wide New Employee Orientation program.

 

·       Serviceability Design Engineer: Conceived of and led Software Organization Release Team (SORT) facilitating the coordination of software release from its inception through initial delivery. Collected customer requests for bug fixes and feature enhancements further coordinating their application and delivery.

 

·       Software Program Manager: Managed IOS Software releases and software beta testing. Coordinated, maintained, and distributed accurate and current records of external beta testers' and software users’ concerns, and internal engineers’ attention to them before initial and subsequent software release. Designed and taught Software Release Process Training to newly hired engineers.

 

·       Customer Service Representative: Supported Sales teams’ order processing, and problem resolution. Provided training in and developed and delivered Order Processing training for newly hired sales representatives. Constructed and maintained web pages, initiated, developed, and delivered HTML Training classes.

 

 

 

Passage Systems, Inc.                                                                                                  June 1995 – April 1996

 

·       Technical Trainer: Developed and delivered courses on proprietary software and authoring for conversion, publishing in Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), both internally, and at customer sites. Managed, created, and presented software training, training materials, and authoring guides. Led cross-functional Software Quality Assurance Team. Conceptualized, coordinated, and presented Staff Appreciation Awards.

 

 

 

California School Districts                                             October 1990 – Jun 1995, October 2002 – April 2014

 

·       Educator: San José, Rialto, and West Contra Costa Unified: Collaborated with IT to design modification to Student Management System for administrators to view students’ progress online. Taught English, ESL, Mexican American Culture, Prenatal Health, Infant, Toddler Development, 1st and 2nd Year Spanish, Spanish Literature, Genealogy, and Social Studies.

 

 

 

Education

 

 

 

Institute of Transpersonal Psychology.                                                                                          May 2013

 

Ph.D. Psychology with a concentration in Transpersonal Psychology and specialization in Creative Expression.

 

 

 

University of Phoenix.                                                                                                                 June 1997

 

MAOM. Master of Arts in Organizational Management.

 

 

 

Humboldt State University.                                                                                                       August 1989

 

BA. Bachelor of Arts major: Spanish, minor: Psychology.

 

 

Respect. Equity. Inclusion.

Fundamentally, these are my tenets. My intention is to put my background (>20 teaching public non-charter high schools), education (Ph.D. in psychology, 4 Single-Subject Teaching Credentials, and National Board Certified Teacher), and energy (mother of students in the District, active member of non-profit boards, School Site Council, and San José City Library and Early Education Commissioner) to work for our kids.

Nonprofit Executive/Social Worker/Community Volunteer/Mother

 Over 25 years of nonprofit executive management experience

·         Governance experience as an appointed Commissioner on 2 Santa Clara County Commissions

·         Governance experience in nonprofit board leadership

·         Expertise in ethical nonprofit governance, leadership, operations & programming (Standards for Excellence Institute)

·         Leadership development through American Leadership Forum (ALF, Class XXIV), Harvard University School of Business – Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management

·         Developing innovative programs with successful outcomes

·         Active school involvement in elementary, middle school and high school

·         Volunteer experience in youth programs, education, social service, faith based and criminal justice organizations

·         Knowledge and experience in working with substance abuse, mental health, social services, juvenile justice and criminal justice, domestic violence/human trafficking/sexual assault, advocacy, homelessness, poverty prevention, early childhood, public policy

·         Expertise in diversity, equity and inclusion work and advocacy

 

 

Recognitions and Awards

·         “Woman of the Year”, State Senator Joe Simitian, District 11, 2009

·         “Community Impact Honoree”, Asian Law Alliance, 2013

·         “Legacy Award”, Sister to Sister-Asian American Recovery Services/HealthRIGHT 360  2015

·         “Very Special Person” Award, Homestead High School PTSA, 2018

Fremont Union High School District is the B.E.S.T.!  Beacon of Excellend for Students/Staff and Teachers

Doing what's BEST!  Being the BEST!  Staying the BEST!

“Kodomo no tame ni” (For the sake of the children) is a Japanese-American phrase that guided my immigrant grandparents and American-born parents through overcoming hardship to make better lives for their children. As your Trustee, I would bring this value to the Fremont Union High School District Board to keep our District a beacon of excellence.

I will work to: champion quality learning for all students; enhance professional development for all staff; and maintain high fiscal effectiveness and resource development to provide quality business functions and support to schools.

I bring over 25 years of nonprofit executive management experience; ethical nonprofit governance expertise; accomplishments in producing innovative programs with successful outcomes; and leadership skills developed through the American Leadership Forum and Harvard University School of Business – Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. I have served on two Santa Clara County Commissions and on several nonprofit boards.

I have actively volunteered in my children’’ elementary, middle and high schools and have worked with social service, faith based and criminal justice organizations focused on youth. I have broad public policy experience on early childhood education, substance abuse, mental health, juvenile justice, domestic violence/human trafficking, poverty prevention, diversity and equity. I respectfully ask for your vote.  www.naomi4fuhsd.com

Top Priorities

●      Champion equity and quality student learning for all students in the FUHSD

●      Enhance resources and professional development opportunities to be competitive to recruit and retain excellent teachers and staff.

●      Promote social emotional health and well-being of all students

 

 

Decision Making Principles

• Accountability
• Transperancy
• Outcomes/Performance Measures
• Mission Focused

 

I am a nine year volunteer and leader in CUSD, serving collaboratively on the PTO Board, as School Site Council Chair and on all 4 of CUSD’s standing advisory committees.  In 2017 I was the recipient of the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation's (CEEF) Community Service Leadership Award, recognizing my years of committment to the students of CUSD.  As a product of CUSD schools myself growing up in Sunnyvale, running for the school board is really coming full circle for me. These are the schools and community that helped to raise me, these are the schools and community helping me to raise my own family.    After a rewarding career as a Physical Therapist and Healthcare Director, I have spent the better part of the last decade dedicated to our CUSD students and this district. I stand for academic success for all learners, balancing the strive for academic excellence with the social and emotional well being and needs of every child. I believe every child needs resources, support, mentorship and love to thrive and that this is best accomplished when parents, our school district and our wider community and elected officials all come together in partnership for kids.  My goal is to develop learners who embrace critical thinking, innovation, problem solving, creativity and compassion.      I am honored to be serving on our CUSD Budget Advisory for two school years now, and have taken the time to become knowledgeable about our challenging district budget. In the next three years our district plans to embark on some ambitious endeavors including: the development of a Strategic Plan, the opening of a new school for the first time since 2005, a district wide STEAM initiative, and the adoption of new curricula in reading and science domains. These are just a few of the complex issues that will require our entire community to come together for success.  I have the committment, vision and experience to help lead us as a voice for all kids at the decision-making table.     I'm very proud to be endorsed by our Cupertino Teachers (Cupertino Education Association) this cycle, along with all 4 of our State Senators and Assemblymembers, Congressman Ro Khanna and over 40 local elected officials and school leaders. I am grounded in the shared history of our community and committed to our shared future. I would respectfully ask to earn your vote for Governing Board Member, Cupertino Union School District.   Best, Lori