CMS School Board, District 5
About Me
Much of my background over the past 29 years has uniquely prepared me for serving on the CMS School Board now:
- My professional experience is in developing collaborative solutions to complex problems for large bureaucracies as an outsider, some larger than CMS.
- I come from an 'education family', with nearly three decades of K-12 teaching and leadership experience. I have two children who are K-12 teachers. Our five children spent over two decades in CMS, and have six college degrees so far.
- For 15 years, I was a single mother raising three children alone while working full time. I take my role of raising responsible citizens seriously.
- During my County Commission At Large race last year, I focused on a number of CMS issues. These included better use of the over $300+ million a year the CMS budget receives from your County taxes, and more aggressive action to reduce the dropout rate.
- At the age of 45 I completed an Ironman triathlon, and have been a competitive runner for many years. From this, I know how much hard work and discipline is required to accomplish meaningful goals.
- I'm an empty nester with ample time to devote to public service.
An Education Family
• I come from a family that takes education seriously. Two of our children are K-12 teachers, one in CMS and one in Raleigh. Two of my siblings have also taught K-12. All told, the four have a combined 30 years of K-12 teaching and leadership experience.
• Our five children have six Bachelors and Masters degrees, all with honors. We will have our seventh degree next year, all from seven different North Carolina universities. All five children have had successful academic careers, and the four no longer in school lead successful adult lives. Each child had their struggles at some point, but all learned how to work hard to succeed.
• As a result, I know what is required to succeed academically, from both a mother's and an educator's perspective.
Personally
- For fifteen years, I was a single mother raising three wonderful children on my own while working full time. Raising responsible citizens is a role I've taken seriously for 25 years, and I've made countless sacrifices for my children's education.
- Growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania, I learned the value of hard work, personal responsibility, serving the community, and honoring commitments. These are lessons I take with me to this day, and will take to the School Board. I'm lucky to have a father who still energetically lives these principals into his 80s.
- As a result of my marriage to my husband Mike in late 2005, I have two beautiful stepdaughters and a 3 year old grandson. Watching the positive, full lives of our five children and grandson has been one of my greatest pleasures. I’m lucky to have all five in North Carolina.
- I've lived in Mecklenburg County for over 20 years, and must be one of the few people to move FROM Union County TO Mecklenburg County. I love it here!
Athletically
- Athletic competition has been an important part of my life, and for many years, I was one of the top runners for my age in Charlotte. (Again, I was Susan Krepelka back then).
- At the age of 45, I made the decision to compete in an Ironman triathlon. Every day for a year, I got up at 4:00 a.m. while my kids slept as part of a twice a day training regimen. At the age of 46, I completed the Ironman, swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and finally (whew!) running a complete marathon, placing in my age group. And, I was successfully fueled by our very own Lance crackers!
- This accomplishment, while raising three teenagers on my own and working full time, landed me on the cover of Today’s Charlotte Woman magazine, along with an in-depth article.
- More recently, I placed fifth in my age group out of 1,200 runners and walkers in the 2007 Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston.
In the Community
- Involved in various capacities over the years in my Matthews neighborhood association. (I moved to Charlotte in 2006).
- Fund raising committee for the Matthews Community Theatre - today the Matthews Children’s Theatre.
- Mecklenburg County Republican Party member.
- Charlotte Mecklenburg Evening Republican Women's Club member.
For Fun
I have acted in local commercials and years ago, on stage. I enjoy the challenge and excitement of being in front of the camera or a live audience.
Running, acting, sales and politics all have one thing in common. There is no place to hide. I thrive on that challenge, and the hard work that backs it up.
Educationally
I’m a graduate of Penn State University. Which of course means: We are…Penn State!!
Many have asked - What is a Nittany Lion? Well, here is the answer, once and for all:
- I created a volunteer position known as The Science Lady at Matthews Elementary School, a CMS school, developing and conducting science experiments for third graders at the school each week throughout the school year. I know the passion children have for learning in the right environment.
- I was the CMS Adopt-A-School Volunteer Coordinator and Tutor at Garinger High School for computer literacy training for a full school year. This gave me a unique insight into the problems facing lower performing students, and how those problems affect the dropout rate.
- I helped organize a walk to protest school reassignment policies. I'm a strong believer in neighborhood schools actively supported by parents.
Professionally
- For the past nine years, I've been a Major Account Executive creating and selling document management solutions to large non-profit organizations, community colleges, K-12 school systems, municipal governments, and corporations.
- My success in developing solutions to complex problems facing large bureaucracies, combined with my uniquely transferable skills, is invaluable for serving on the School Board.
- I know what it's like to successfully create change in the status quo as an outsider to a large organization, working with a wide range of people to accomplish this.
- I have spent most of my 29 year career in sales. From this, I truly understand the importance of creating collaborative solutions and maintaining trusting relationships. My income and family's survival depended on my success at this.
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North Carolina election law requires political committees to report the name, address, job title or profession, and employer of each individual whose contributions total more than $50 in
an election cycle. Political contributions are not tax deductible under federal or state laws. Contributions are limited to $4,000 per individual per election cycle. No contributions from
corporations or foreign nationals are allowed. Paid for by Elect Susan Walker, Paul Vadnais, M.D., Treasurer
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