Holt: School board members need an open mind

  • By Bill Holt
  • Tuesday, September 30, 2014 9:38pm
  • Opinion

I have enjoyed being a member of the KPBSD Board of Education for the past six years. The experience has been productive and very rewarding. I am currently serving as the school board representative on the Career and Technical Advisory Committee (CTAC), the Kenai Peninsula School Activities Association (KPSAA) executive board of directors, the school board’s Legislative Affairs committee and the Charter School Oversight committee. I hope to continue my participation on these committees if I am re-elected to the school board.

My wife Kathy and I have raised our three children, Galen, Marina and Ellen in Kasilof and all three have attended and graduated from peninsula schools and all have gone on to graduate from college. Raising our kids in Kasilof and working with the schools they attended gave me a great appreciation for our area schools. I have been a commercial fisherman for over 40 years and this work has afforded me the opportunity to spend winters helping raise my children and the chance to participate with their school activities. I have been an assistant ski coach at Soldotna Middle, Soldotna High and Skyview High schools. I worked at Skyview High School for five years as the Community Schools Coordinator and as the pool aide. My wife, Kathy, has followed her commitment to education even farther and is now a teacher at Soldotna Montessori Charter School. I was a board member of the Tsalteshi Trails Association for twelve years and am currently the Tsalteshi Trails Maintenance and Development Director. My work on the trails as well as my work on the school board has kept me in close contact with peninsula students and their families.

Five years ago I helped start the Tsalteshi Trails Youth Ski Program for kids 6-12 years old and we have now successfully grown the program to 150 children and their supportive parents. I am a firm believer in the benefits of outdoor education and am proud that this program is an asset for our young students and our whole community. As a member of the school board and the Physical Education Curriculum Committee I will continue to encourage geographically specific physical education activities. We need to embrace our Alaskan climate and find activities that our kids can carry with them throughout their lives. The schools can do more to get kids outside.

Working on the school board requires commitment and a willingness to look at problems with an open mind, to be able to see the issues from more than one perspective and be able to make decisions that best support the success of our children. I look forward to continuing my service with the students, families, teachers, administrators and support staff of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District.

More in Opinion

Heidi Drygas, executive director of the 8,000-member Alaska State Employees Association, addresses a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol on Feb. 10, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
Let’s stop the ‘Neglect. Panic. Repeat.’ cycle of public service delivery

The payroll section is one of several state agencies in crisis

This photo shows Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jim Cockrell. (Courtesy photo / Office of Gov. Mike Dunleavy)
Strengthening Alaska through service: Join the Alaska State Troopers

The law enforcement positions within the Department of Public Safety fill a critical need within our community

A tabletop voting booth is seen next to a ballot box at the Kenai city clerk’s office on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Opinion: Last call to voice your vote!

We will see you at the polls Oct. 3

LaDawn Druce asks Sen. Jesse Bjorkman a question during a town hall event on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Addressing Kenai Peninsula’s education and public safety employee shortage

Many of our best and brightest educators take a hard and close look at the teacher’s retirement system in Alaska early in their careers and are stunned

Deven Mitchell, executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Providing for generations of Alaskans

As a public endowment, the wealth of the Fund is the responsibility of every resident of the state

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney greet each other outside the chamber at the U.S. Capitol on April 5, 2022. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP file photo)
Opinion: Alaska’s senators and Mitt Romney

When newly elected Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, began his term five years… Continue reading

UAA Provost Denise Runge photographed outside the Administration and Humanities Building.
Opinion: UAA offers affordable and convenient pathways that prepare students for the next step

At UAA, we provide numerous academic programs designed to meet specific workforce needs

A line of voters runs out the door of the Diamond Ridge Voting Precinct at the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. Chamber Executive Director Brad Anderson said he had never seen the amount of people coming through the polling place. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
How many ways can you vote?

Multiple ballot options available to voters

scales of justice (File photo)
Opinion: The Dubious Dunleavy Deal to use public dollars for personal legal costs

In 2019, these regulation changes were ultimately abandoned without public notice

A 2022 voter information pamphlet rests on a desk in the Peninsula Clarion offices on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Where to find voter pamphlets

Be educated about what you are voting on

Trustees and staff discuss management and investment of the Alaska Permanent Fund. (Courtesy Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation)
Providing Alaska-based opportunities for professional talent

Expanding our in-state presence by opening a satellite office in Anchorage has been part of the fund’s strategic plan for the past four years