2012 Regional Director Elections

Once again, it is time for the full ISTA membership to voice its preferences for the 2012-14 regional directors for the ISTA Board. The newly elected (or re-elected) directors will begin service at the March 2012 board meeting.

Region 2 All voting members of ISTA will be receiving an individualized e-ballot from Survey Monkey, on or about January 9. Voting is expected to require approximately 5-10 minutes. The election will be open until midnight, January 23. Please note: All voting members vote for all regions.

We are posting the applications submitted by all candidates, along with their photographs for your review. You may notice that some applications were slightly abbreviated within the ballots, in order to conform to the Survey Monkey page restrictions.

The security of our membership data has been assured by Survey Monkey. If you have questions about your ballot, please contact gpollock@casscomm.com.

	Robin Dombeck Maple School Northbrook IL view full application	Rationale for serving: I have been active in Science Education for 29 years, and believe that my experiences (teacher, college instructor, non-formal educator, program leader, professional development provider, curriculum developer) and involvement in professional organizations have provided me with knowledge and skills to enhance ISTA’s goals. I am excited to share my experiences with innovative teaching strategies, resources, scientists, learning, technology, and authentic scientific experiences. I am equally enthusiastic to share what others are doing. With a strong sense of commitment, compassion and collaboration, I engage my colleagues and students in the wonders of science. I hope to bring this to ISTA.
REGION 1 Candidates
	Robert Lang Glenbard South High School Glen Ellyn, IL view full application	Rationale for serving: I’d like to serve on ISTA to promote science education throughout Illinois. With my background in engineering, I see the need to have a science-literate society. We need to continue emphasizing science education for all students. I’d like to help develop ideas on how to incorporate more STEM education in our schools. I’d also like to promote more informal meetings (like Physics West and ISPP) for educators to get together to discuss successes in their classrooms and generate new ideas to incorporate in their teaching. Through collaboration we can reach all students.
	Barry Latham Bloom High School Chicago Heights, IL view full application	Rationale for serving: Science can be used in such a large variety of fields, but I don’t feel that this is being expressed adequately. I want to use my time as Regional Director to help my fellow science teachers develop and express the rising importance of science as a career. I plan to do this through organizing professionals in a variety of fields to speak at professional conferences, school groups or possibly creating an updated list or video that conveys this idea. Engineering projects have also been very helpful, paid for with grants, in aiding my students in experiencing this.
REGION 2 Candidates
	Carol Schnaiter Amboy Central Elementary Amboy, IL view full application	Rationale for serving: I have been the Region 2 Co-Chair Person for the past two years. During this time I have helped with planning meetings and at the ISTA Conferences. I have presented at the ISTA Conference and the WIU Science Conference. For the past eleven years I have taught Kindergarten through fourth grade science in a small rural school where I have continued to promote hands on and inquiry science in all grade levels.
REGION 3 Candidates
	Don Powers WIU Macomb, IL view full application	Rationale for serving: I am presently serving as Regional Director for Region 3. I have been an active member of ISTA for 23 years and served on the ISTA Board previously (97-99 & 02-04). I feel ISTA can and should support Illinois science throughout the state. In my present position I have the opportunity to meet and work with a number of teachers and I think as Regional Director I can serve as a link between those teachers and ISTA. ISTA members want our organization to provide them with support in advancing science and science education both in the formal classroom and outside of the formal classroom and I feel I have the background and experience to help accomplish this goal. I also work daily with future classroom teachers who will eventually become the leaders of ISTA. If elected as Regional Director I would continue to work to get these future teachers involved in ISTA early in their career so they can recognize the value of ISTA membership and continue as life-long members of our organization. I would also like to see ISTA have a stronger connection with the National Science Teachers Association, Illinois Science Olympiad, and because of science’s natural connection with math, the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics. I have also worked with ISTA in establishing and maintaining the ISTA Archives housed at WIU. Thank you for your consideration of my request to continue to serve as Regional Director.
REGION 4 Candidates
	Kristen Camp Champaign School District r, Champaign, IL view full application	Rationale for serving: I have served as the K-12 Science & Health Curriculum Coordinator for Champaign School District Unit 4 for five years. During that time I have realized the value of belonging to a strong professional association. One of the most valuable resources the Illinois Science Teachers Association can provide is an opportunity to network with other professionals in your area of expertise. The contacts I have made as a result of networking at the ISTA State Conference and other related meetings have helped me grow as a professional and provided me and my colleagues with opportunities to participate in curriculum and assessment work with professionals in other parts of the state. However, there is still a need to develop this sort of professional networking and relationships in our region of the state. As a regional director, I would like to initiate a regional network of science teacher/leaders that can share and learn from one another as we implement the upcoming new science standards and assessments.
	Ken Wester Illinois State University in Normal view full application	Rationale for serving: As an educator I have always recognized the importance of meaningful professional development/growth. Initially being a participant/member of professional organizations, I soon moved into leadership roles. Through my experience as a high school teacher, an education educator and as a leader in various professional organizations I have become knowledgeable about professional development. I have an intrinsic desire to help professional organizations, especially ISTA meet the needs of teachers throughout the state. Through my experience and desire to excel, I feel I have much to offer ISTA and that ISTA has much to offer me.
REGION 5 Candidates
	Liz Malik Alton High School Alton, IL view full application	Rationale for serving: Having served one term as Regional director for Region 5, I truly appreciate how much ISTA offers to its members and other science educators around the state of Illinois; from organizing an excellent Annual Conference to offering many Awards to promote excellence in science education. I hope to be able to serve as Regional Director for a second term so that Region 5 continues to establish a community that mirrors ISTA’s mission to ‘promote excellence in science teaching and learning throughout Illinois”.
REGION 6 Candidates
No Candidates
REGION 7 Candidates
	Wendy Jackson DePaul University Chicago, IL view full application	Rationale for serving: I seek to increase the involvement of Chicago teachers in ISTA so that they may both benefit from participation in this professional community, and bring their perspectives to ISTA around the challenges and opportunities in urban science education. Having worked effectively with hundreds of Chicago teachers over the last several years, I have a good sense of how to involve them in ISTA in meaningful ways. With Illinois now one of the state contributing to the development of the Next Generation of Science Standards, I could seek ways for Chicago teachers to have a voice in this most important effort.