New school board to be elected

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

— School Board elections will be held on Sept. 21. The Decatur City Hall serves as the polling site and will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

The only contested race will be between Gracia Harrington and Ike Owens for the Zone 5 position. Following is a list of the candidates who will be on the ballot.

Zone 1 - Justin Thompson

Age: 30

Family: Wife Jennifer Thompson, daughter Talor age 9 and son Kaden age 5.

Employment: United States Postal Service

Education: Decatur High School graduate, and two years of college.

How have you been involved with the Decatur school? Both of my kids go to the school and I help coach summer sports.

Why do you hope to be elected? As an alumni and now a parent of children that attend the school, I hold a great interest in the Decatur School system. I want my children to have a school they can be proud of. I want the children to be able to have the same opportunities and same educational options as some of the bigger well-known schools. I will strive to bring back the camaraderie and pride that we had when I attended school here.

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Zone 2 - Aaron Owens

Age: 37

Family: Wife and three sons.

Employment: Branch manager of a transport refrigeration service dealership.

Education: Graduate of Decatur High School, and the Nashville Auto Diesel College in Nashville, Tenn.

How have you been involved with the Decatur school? Ihave three children in Decatur schools and graduated from Decatur High School. My wife works for the elementary school cafeteria.

Why do you hope to be elected? We just need some responsible level-headed people on the board.

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Zone 3 - Open Zone 4 - Darleen Holly

Age: 51

Family: Husband - Doug, two sons Josh - 24, Ethan - 20 Both are graduates of Decatur schools.

Employment: USDA Farm Service Agency

Education: Bachelor's degree in animal science from Oklahoma State University

How have you been involved with the Decatur School? Booster Club, 4-H Leader, PTO, Education Foundation

Why you hope to be elected? I hope to be elected to the school board because I would like to be able to make a difference in our school. I have seen the school go through a lot of changes in the last 30 years. Someone once told me that to run for school board that you should have a love for the children and a love for the community. I have a love for both.

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Zone 5

- Gracia Harrington

Age: 43

Family: My husband of 26 years, Philip is a graduate of Decatur Schools. I have four children, two graduated from Decatur and one is currently enrolled in Decatur High School. I also have two sons-in-law, a granddaughter and a grandchild on the way.

Employment: Pre-school teacher at Helen Walton Children’s Enrichment Center in Bentonville.

Education: I have my CDA, nationally accredited child development certification, numerous early childhood certifications and education training, and currently working on a bachelor's degree in early childhood development and education.

How have you been involved with the Decatur school? Through my children. I was involved with the FFA, helped out with cheerleaders and sewed for the Dazzlers. For almost a year I worked in Pre-K and then for a couple years I substituted in K-12.

Why do you hope to be elected? I just have a real heart for children. I understand the importance of education and I would really like to see the school in our community growand thrive. I would like to support the community as a whole.

- Ike Owens

Age: 51

Family: Wife Timmie, daughter Alicia 28 and Kevin 25

Employment: 30-plus years with Wal-Mart, the last 20 years as a facility general manager.

Education: Graduate of Decatur High School class of 1977.

How have you been involved with the Decatur school? Both our children went K through 12 at the Decatur School system. I attended all the various academic programs and athletic events. I coached youth sports for 14 years, T-ball through 16 and under baseball and softball from 10 and under to 16 and under. I helped coach youth football and basketball programs for several years. I served as president of the Decatur Youth Sports program for more than 10 years. I was an active part of the Decatur Booster Club and helped with fundraisers and repairs to the athleticfacilities and fields. My wife, Timmie, served one term on the Decatur School Board while our children were in school. She also coached the Dazzler dance team for several years. Both of those experiences for her kept me involved with both students and staff from the school.

Why do you hope to be elected? As an alumni I remember being proud to attend this school system. I was proud of the education that we received and of the athletic programs that we provided. I want to do what’s possible to rekindle those feelings so that current and future students can have those same fond memories.

I want all students who graduate from the Decatur school system to be well- rounded adults that have learned the necessary tools to move them forward into either a college degree or into the workforce. The success of our school will be measured by the success of our students. Let’s make sure that they are all prepared so that they can achieve their personal goals.

News, Pages 1 on 09/15/2010