THE CHIME

 

Welcome to the first ever WREN newsletter, The Chime! A chime is a group of wrens, so it seemed like a good name for our newsletter – plus it just has a nice “ring” to it. Thank you for signing up. We have a lot of important news to share, so let’s dig right in.

 

Note: if you aren’t yet signed up for our mailing list, go to our contact page and sign up to receive these newsletters in your inbox.

 

Since you signed up, I’m sure you know at least something about our group, but just in case, we are a non-partisan community group that values equity, civility, safety, compassion, transparency, and empowerment. Our mission is to inform, support, and take action for the Whitnall community to build a better future for all students, teachers, staff, and citizens. If you want to learn more, our website lists all of our goals and more. We also have a Facebook page and group you can join, as well as an Instagram page. Here’s a list of all those resources.

The deadline for candidates to file for the spring election was Friday January 5th, and there are 4 candidates to fill 2 seats. We are happy to announce that WREN will be supporting long time incumbent Quin Brunette and Sarah Blonsky for school board! The other two candidates to file are Sean Flynn and Rhonda Berg Perry.

 

So why do we support Quin and Sarah? Both candidates share the WREN vision, mission, values, and goals. Quin’s passion and experience are unmatched. His tenure on the board is a testament to his commitment to Whitnall students and community members. WREN supports Sarah because of her teaching experience, her passion for special education, and her desire for change in the Whitnall School Board.

 

WREN will be doing everything in their power to ensure election victory for Quin and Sarah. We need those two seats on the school board! In the coming weeks and months, we will let you know how you can help more. But right now, you can help by visiting Sarah’s website to learn more about her and to donate to her campaign! Quin is busy setting up his website now. We will send a link to his website when it’s ready to go.

 

 

Please see below for the “Cliff Notes” recap of the special school board meeting held on January 4th.

 

The next school board meeting will be this Monday, January 8th at 6:30 PM in the Community Board Room at the Whitnall School District Office. To view the agenda, go to the district’s BoardDocs site, click on the January 8th School Board Workshop meeting, then click “View the Agenda.” Here are some agenda highlights:

WREN encourages its members to attend these meetings in person, but if you can’t attend, you can watch them live streamed or recorded on YouTube. Here is a link to Monday’s meeting on YouTube. You can also watch for our meeting Cliff Notes on Facebook and in The Chime newsletters.

 

This is a reminder that anyone is welcome to comment in person or via written comment at the board meetings. Here is a guide on how to do that. Click on “How do I communicate with the board.”

 

It’s a busy day on Monday. There is also a Personnel Committee meeting at 4:45 in the Community Board Room where they will discuss the permanent superintendent search in general, with some specifics to include the search timeline, and finalizing the posting.

 

At 6 PM Monday prior to the School Board Meeting in the Community Board Room, they will conduct the drawing for candidate order on the election ballots. The public is welcome to attend, and all 4 candidates were invited.

 

On Friday January 5th, LuAnn Bird appeared on hellocounty.com with her segment Bird’s Eye View of Civility in Politics. She discussed her history in politics, the challenges and joys of her 40 year marriage to her paraplegic veteran husband, her New Year’s resolutions, and some of the local political candidates, including Sarah and Quin. The recording is not yet up on their site, but should be soon!

 

If you or someone you know would like to be featured in WREN Members in Action, please email Jason Graham. Thanks!

 

The WREN Steering Committee consists of about 20 people, of which around 10 or so meet virtually and in person about every 2 weeks. We also communicate regularly outside of these meetings. We discuss strategy and take care of administrative business, such as putting together these communications, creating social media posts, taking care of the website, and creating printed material.

 

If you know others who share our values, please spread the word with them! Share this message with them. Have them visit our website and sign up for the email list. Tell them to like and follow our Facebook page. Tell them to join our Facebook group. One of our most important goals is to organize and grow a network of community members. There is power in numbers!

 

Thank you,