Who am I and why L-K?

For those of you who don’t know me, I grew up in Elysian Fields and graduated Elysian Fields High School. From there I went to Stephen F. Austin State University where I walked on to the basketball team. I played all four years of college basketball for the LadyJacks while pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. Education was not my profession of choice, but I was given an opportunity to teach math and coach basketball in Waller, Tx. It was because of that opportunity that I went back to SFA to get my Master’s degree and start my career in Education. I taught math and coached basketball for 13 years at the junior high, high school, and collegiate levels. My first administrative job was at Grapeland ISD where I served five years as a campus administrator before moving to Linden-Kildare CISD. My husband, Lonny, is a financial advisor with Dylan Thompson Wealth Management in Atlanta and we have two kids, Maggee is 10 and Nash is 8 that both attend Linden Elementary. I am currently in my third year at LKCISD as superintendent and my eighth year in the community overall. In my 25 years of education, this district has been my favorite place to be. I have loved some of the people and districts that I have worked for in the past, but LK is special.

Being from a small town in East Texas, I like the idea of my children growing up in a small community with a community-wide “family” mentality. I understand that when we go to a “small” school, there are some things we don’t get exposed to. I worked at Flower Mound High School for 7 years before moving back to East Texas. I loved my job there and the people I got to work with. Had we stayed there, my kids could have chosen any avenue they wanted. They offer more than 80 programs that we are just not able to offer at LK because of our size. At LK, they have the opportunity to be involved in multiple extra-curricular activities instead of having to choose. Flower Mound was a great place to be, but I’m proud my kids are at LK.

Here are some of the “perks” of living in this community and attending LK schools.

• All of the teachers know all of the kids. You can walk on any one of the campuses and regardless of what their title is or what grade or subject they teach, any staff member knows MOST of the kids. Not only do they know the kids, they probably know who their siblings are and who their parents are.

• LK has lots of traditions throughout the school and the community. Some of these traditions have evolved to meet the times, but there is still a strong pride amongst the majority of the citizens in this community. Our stands are full at home ball games regardless of the sport and regardless of the win/loss record. Our fans are PROUD of Linden-Kildare extra-curricular activities.

• The crime rate here is very low – I don’t worry about the safety of my kids and family when we are in Linden or attending an LK event. Students are safe to walk to school and to play in the park.

• There is a real “cross church community” here. Our local churches work together and welcome one another with open arms.

• We have a respectful student body. I have heard complaints on the occasion that oppose this, but I have worked in several districts and in my experience, we have GREAT kids. I have experienced a lot of “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am”, students will hold the door for you, and generally act very well behaved when representing our school on trips and activities. We regularly receive positive reports from other communities when our students are attending events.

• We have an AMAZING staff. There is a LOT of experience on our staff and the majority are from Linden or Kildare and many of them have spent the majority of their career here

• While we may be a small school, LK offers over 50 hours of Dual-Credit courses at our high school at a much discounted rate than to try and get all those hours at a university.

Our students have smaller classes where the instruction can be more individualized.

LK is very competitive in our UIL academics, debate, DECA, Band, and athletics. We are able to offer almost all competitive sports available in UIL. We are also able to offer a wide variety of electives at the high school level that includes Agriculture, Woodworking, Nursing, Debate, Floral Design, Art, Technology, Business, and Culinary Arts. These electives have several different courses embedded so students can take multiple years under the same elective without repeating a class.

Many people think a larger city offers MORE opportunities. In my opinion, our opportunities are worth more. I like that our students learn to make the most of things and take care of the things we have. I like that I can see the stars on a clear night. I like that there are a character and a charm in the atmosphere that cannot be duplicated in the city. I like that I know and trust my neighbors and enjoy attending events in Linden.

In my 25 year career, at 5 school districts and two colleges, eight years is the longest I have been in one district and I look forward to watching that number grow. I love this district and I love the people that I work with on a daily basis. We have some work to do on our facilities and state accountability, but we are moving in the right direction. I plan to address our accountability score in an article in the near future, but those ratings don’t depict a real picture of who we are. Our teachers are hard workers that put KIDS FIRST. While we are not satisfied with the ratings we’ve received, we are working diligently to learn the new rules the state is enforcing that directly relate to those ratings. More information to come on that topic!

Linden-Kildare may not be my hometown, but it IS my kids’ hometown.

If you have any questions or would like to hear more about what is going on in our schools please consider coming to our monthly board meeting every third Monday of the month or don’t hesitate to contact me at the administration office.