hi my name is Rob rafield and I'm running for reelection to the Forest Lake School Board and I'm also supporting the ranger team Jim Smith Julie corkran and Gail Tyson I'd like to take a minute and talk about my vision for our schools my experience on the board and a little bit about me when I think about my work on the board and my vision for our kids I think about three things academics options for kids and every student belongs with academics we need to ensure that at every stage in a student's education they have the classes and teachers they need to achieve at their Highest Potential classes that are both rigorous and relevant are critical this means students being fully up to speed and reading and math by the third grade by the time they receive their diploma our kids need to be fully prepared for whatever comes next whatever that is a four-year degree a two-year degree the trades or the military with choices for kids we need to be able to offer kids an education that motivates them in our community elementary schools stem language immersion lywood Forest International Balor offerings ensure that our youngest Learners are challenged and engaged at our middle and high schools a huge number of AP courses tech classes science egg education and our career Pathways give students the ability to tailor their education to what motivates them also important to our kids are all the activities that we offer Athletics the Arts speech debate Music These are really important in the lives of our kids and lastly every student belongs if we want our kids to meet the high standards that we set we need to ensure that they are in a safe and welcoming environment students come to our schools as an individual with individual needs and background I believe that every student that comes through our door is a ranger and deserves to be welcomed and given the tools and social environment they need to thrive now I'd i' like to talk about some of my work on the school board that I'm really proud of first the modern modernization of all our school buildings to meet modern academic requirements this includes the addition of the science wing on the high school which is critical for our science and egg departments the stabilization of our funding gone are the days of struggling from one short duration Levy to the next next the rebuilding of our department of teaching and learning which is how we beat State academic standards year after year and importantly the rebuilding of our athletic facilities any kids in sports 10 years ago knew the feeling of embarrassment of Hosting home games with our new stadium and Fields we have turned that around and our success on the field shows that it matters a little about me my wife and I have lived in Scandia for over 30 years my kids Erica and David have graduated from forest Lake and my daughter Jackie is a senior this year by trade I'm a software engineer that has worked in Machine Vision and now medical technology I became interested in the board when my kids started at Scandia Elementary and I saw how important these schools are to our community I have way too many hobbies but I especially love repairing just about anything I have a YouTube channel called Rob's Fixit Shop where I share my fascination with repair with others finally let me finish by saying how how important these School Board elections are academics choices for kids everybody belongs are critical but many outside groups want our school boards fighting with each other over bogus issues these organizations have meme Farms that push tin hat conspiracies like woke Dei CRT litter boxes and push book Banning this is also that if we're fighting over nonsense issues they can come in and push privatization of vouchers don't fall for it elect board members that care about kids are willing to do the real work of giving them a great education thank you and I would really appreciate your vote to continue moving our schools forward