https://issuu.com/timespub/docs/gw_1116_all_pages
This is an article from November, 2016. It is on page 43.
I am going to write it out in case it ever goes off line--for posterity!
NO TIME FOR RECESS
BORED QUICKLY WITH RETIREMENT
FORMER EDUCATOR TRIES POLITICS
BY SRIANTHI PERERA
Sheila Rogers wasn't passing her own test in retirement--and after 45 years as a teacher, principal and superintendent, she was no stranger to tests.
After Rogers called it quits last years, she had plenty to keep her busy: six energetic pugs--Diego, Lucy, Seamus, Pancho, Maya and Pedro; her Mexican-cuisine prowess; caring for an aging aunt; writing a blog and walking a daily goal of 4 miles.
Yet in the length of an early-release day, she could feel that something was missing: She still felt the tug of education.
Never officially a politician, she threw her hat in the ring for Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board. She is among four contenders for three positions, and has the backing of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, among other organizations.
"If I win, this will be my 46th year in education," she says. "If I don't, I'll do something else."
"When you spend your life in education and then something like this comes up, it's rewarding when the children you've worked with and are now adults come back and want to help you," she says with gratitude.
Many have since word got out.
"What I did had to have made a positive impact in their lives, otherwise they wouldn't." Rogers says.
Rogers was born in Douglas, which is tucked into the southeastern corner of Arizona on the border with Mexico. Her ancestral home still stands. She was the school superintendent there from 2010 to 2015.
She started her career in Gilbert in the 1970s, when teachers were handed a paddle along with their keys. (She only used it once, and afterward thought it was horrible.)
More lasting was her 21-year service as the principal of Gilbert Elementary, when she learned each student's name, even when enrollment exceeded 1,000.
With that track record, Rogers feels the need to continue advancing education.
"I feel like I have a whole lot to offer, and i have the time. I need to keep myself mentally busy," she says. "Being able to do something like this is a service to the community and to the children and the families of the community."
Rogers anticipates a learning curve, if elected, but takes heart from her previous experience when, as superintendent, she worked directly with a school board.
"If the board and superintendent can work together, the district is going to benefit tremendously from co-operation," she says. "That doesn't mean you'll always agree with everything, because you are not going to."
Rogers sees challenges for the district: lack of funding and the teacher has almost crisis levels, she says; balancing enrollment on the east and west side of town via changing boundaries; teacher retention and attracting young people to the profession.
The other important factor is parent involvement, she says.
Rogers would like to take on all of these issues.
"But I believe that all of the other people that are running also have the best interests of the children and that is nice to know," she says.
After Rogers called it quits last years, she had plenty to keep her busy: six energetic pugs--Diego, Lucy, Seamus, Pancho, Maya and Pedro; her Mexican-cuisine prowess; caring for an aging aunt; writing a blog and walking a daily goal of 4 miles.
Yet in the length of an early-release day, she could feel that something was missing: She still felt the tug of education.
Never officially a politician, she threw her hat in the ring for Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board. She is among four contenders for three positions, and has the backing of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, among other organizations.
"If I win, this will be my 46th year in education," she says. "If I don't, I'll do something else."
"When you spend your life in education and then something like this comes up, it's rewarding when the children you've worked with and are now adults come back and want to help you," she says with gratitude.
Many have since word got out.
"What I did had to have made a positive impact in their lives, otherwise they wouldn't." Rogers says.
Rogers was born in Douglas, which is tucked into the southeastern corner of Arizona on the border with Mexico. Her ancestral home still stands. She was the school superintendent there from 2010 to 2015.
She started her career in Gilbert in the 1970s, when teachers were handed a paddle along with their keys. (She only used it once, and afterward thought it was horrible.)
More lasting was her 21-year service as the principal of Gilbert Elementary, when she learned each student's name, even when enrollment exceeded 1,000.
With that track record, Rogers feels the need to continue advancing education.
"I feel like I have a whole lot to offer, and i have the time. I need to keep myself mentally busy," she says. "Being able to do something like this is a service to the community and to the children and the families of the community."
Rogers anticipates a learning curve, if elected, but takes heart from her previous experience when, as superintendent, she worked directly with a school board.
"If the board and superintendent can work together, the district is going to benefit tremendously from co-operation," she says. "That doesn't mean you'll always agree with everything, because you are not going to."
Rogers sees challenges for the district: lack of funding and the teacher has almost crisis levels, she says; balancing enrollment on the east and west side of town via changing boundaries; teacher retention and attracting young people to the profession.
The other important factor is parent involvement, she says.
Rogers would like to take on all of these issues.
"But I believe that all of the other people that are running also have the best interests of the children and that is nice to know," she says.
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