Hello,

I was born in the early ’60’s, grew up in Columbus, Georgia, successfully completed several solo flights mere weeks after my 16th birthday, graduated from public school one year early and joined the US Air Force in 1979, spent 10+ wonderful years with the US Air Force as an Accounting and Finance specialist and a few more years in the Ohio National Guard.

In 2012, the US Army’s COL Harris and GEN Holt awarded me the Outstanding Civilian Service Award for my two years of service in Afghanistan, where I handled billion-dollar resources.

While stationed in England I met and married Eva, a beautiful, bright Air Force Staff Sergeant, and in 1989 we moved to her hometown of Berea Ohio where we raised five loving children, who are now all grown plus five grandbabies, too.

We dealt with the Berea City School District (BCSD) schools that tried one failed educational experiment after another, e.g., declaring phonics as “not reading”, failed whole language, failed outcome-based education, site words that caused dyslexic-like conditions, crazy lattice division instead of time-tested long-division, failing to teach cursive writing, letting students run wild and then wondering why they couldn’t get the high-energy boys to sit still to pay attention and learn.

The pleasant exception to all the public-school craziness was “Mr. Kelly,” who was a wonderful, traditional principal for Riveredge Elementary.

Our five grandbabies are destined for the BCSD and just when we thought the schools couldn’t get any worse, they did! The public schools spend taxes on too many failed programs and when there’s a public outcry, they just re-name the material and hide it using more acceptable synonyms and euphemisms.

I will be a board member who recognizes harmful material and who will say NO to any future attempts at: porn (1), radical indoctrination (2), normalizing pedophilia (3), troubled male sex performers (4), (5), and (6) grooming our children, and more – as if that wasn’t enough.

My work life includes being a paperboy, waiter, grocery clerk, USAF active duty, Ohio Air National Guard, law firm runner, successful business owner, DFAS accounting supervisor, CEW Resource Advisor in Afghanistan, and now a Veterans Affairs accountant.

My education includes graduating from a public votech high school, CCAF Associates degree, NCOIC Leadership School graduate with honors, Bachelors in Business Management degree, Masters in Executive Leadership degree, plus extensive government training.

I’m now a government accountant who’s hoping that, with your help, I can use my life experience, skills, and education, to push for and inact – sane, fundamental, common sense policies.

Every BCSD student deserves, every parent wants, and every taxpayer expects, a district that rates much better than 436th out of 823 Ohio public schools. Let’s ditch hyper-political union-required social experiments for a more fundamental education for all grade levels and high tech specialized training for the older students. Let’s stand up for our children and stop promoting political special interests.