Sally Saddler, President
Sally Saddler is originally from Elyria, Ohio. She first came to Alaska in 1975 and then moved to Juneau permanently in 1977. She holds a BA in Economics from the George Washington University. Saddler is recently retired after most recently serving ten years as the Legislative Liaison for the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. She is a member of the Downtown Juneau Rotary; Alaska/Yukon District Coordinator for Rotary Inbound Youth Exchange; Former Manager Juneau Reign Boys Soccer Team; Former Big Sister with Big Brothers/Big Sisters; Former Soccer/Basketball Coach, Juneau Parks & Recreation; US Swimming Official. Saddler has also volunteered on the JDHS and DHMS Site Council; was a Parent/community member of JSD Vision and Strategic Planning Committee; Department of Education State Standards Workgroup Member; State Department of Education Career Development/Employability Standards Team Member; and Member of the Alaska Business Education Compact.

Saddler is focused on addressing the challenge of getting ALL students to take responsibility for their education and build skills for success after high school. She feels that a better-managed process helps every student identify interests, skills and abilities, and connects them with programs offered by the District to achieve their goals. That process includes setting system goals for student success; monitoring performance; changing school climate/culture to promote learning; ensuring students perform at grade level; providing career guidance, opportunities for student learning in the context of interests; and opportunities for activities/community experience to use students' skills and abilities. This is her first term, which expires in 2011.

Andi Story, Vice President
Andi Story, a homemaker, former social worker and co-founder of the Great Alaska Schools Coalition, has served on the Board for three terms, putting her focus on budget decisions that have allowed lower class sizes and more classroom resources. She has also focused on drawing attention to the need for adequate education funding from the Legislature. “I want each child to be able to learn the skills they need to be successful,” Story said, “and for teachers to have the support they need from the Board for professional development.”

Story cited lowering class sizes as an accomplishment of the Board during her tenure. “We’ve also focused on safety issues, like decreasing from a mile to a half mile the boundaries for pupil transportation,” she said.  Story also has put her focus on better communications between the District office, teaching staff and families. “We need to continue the communication with families,” she said. Story's term expires in 2012.

Kim Poole, Clerk

Kim Poole was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas. She has a degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation, a Masters of Divinity and a Bachelors and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees. She has lived in Juneau since 1993 and served as a pastor of local churches and as a pharmacist. She is a small business owner. "I have served on a number of non-profit boards in the Juneau community and thought I had enough experience to offer the community through serving on the school board to help the community unite behinds its educational system."

The current and future economic situation along with the push nationwide to improve the student achievements in math, science and reading pose challenges for all communities. Add to that a drop out rate that is higher than any of us would like to see and it gives room for a lot of new ideas, along with a lot of hard work and cooperation. "I am interested in seeing how we can build more alliances within the community to assure that our graduates leave the system with degree in hand, heads held high, and ready to face the future -- whether that be in the work force or in higher education. A well rounded student should be able to make it in this world. However, the community will need to creatively and sacrificially step up to the plate to make this possible."

Phyllis Carlson, Member

Phyllis Carlson, a program manager at Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, is in her third term as a member of the Board. Her focus has been on keeping the pupil-teacher ratio low and on helping to bring more resources to all student programs. “I want to see students graduate and be ready for their next steps in life,” she said. 

“I’m excited that the Board took on the One-to-One Laptop program at Yakoosge,” Carlson said. The program, funded as a pilot project by the Legislature with the Alaska Association of School Boards, put laptops in the hands of each student at the alternative high school “We have students doing wonderful things there with this program,” she said. Carlson said she’s excited about the new secondary education plan for the District, bringing the new high school online, and she looks forward to putting additional focus on improving literacy at the elementary levels and on keeping more students connected to and in school until graduation. “We need diverse programs for our diverse community,” she said. “We need to close the achievement gap and give all students equal access to education in our system.” Carlson's term expires in 2012.

Mark Choate, Member
Juneau Attorney Mark Choate is serving his second term on the Board of Education. “I ran specifically concerned about the drop out rate in the District,” he said. “I am also concerned about identifying what our expectations are of the schools and how we measure if those expectations have been met - what's working and what's not working.”

Choate has also been an active advocate of improving vocational education programs in the District. He is pleased the District hired a vocational counselor and is looking forward to helping to create other options for students to learn. He cited the successful partnership with the Juneau Home Builders Association, who funded a new, high tech table saw for Juneau Douglas High School at no cost to the District, as an example of what can be done by working together with the community. “I think we can make education more relevant and more interesting for students who learn best by doing things rather than traditional academic models,” he said. Choate's term will expire in 2012.

Sean O'Brien, Member


Barbara Thurston, Member