Weston County School Board Election #1: Brian Pischke

NLJ: Please tell us why you want to hold this office, and what you intend to accomplish if elected. Please be specific about your goals and objectives, so our readers can measure your progress over the course of the term. Also tell us what qualifications and characteristics you possess that will help ensure that your stated goals can be achieved. (The same question was posed to all candidates for the General Election.)
Brian Pischke
Hello. My name is Brian Pischke and I am running for a seat on the Weston County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees. Why? Simply put, “Children are our Business.” This is the motto of the Board, and I believe this should be the credo of our community as well. After all, our children are our future and they will one day run and shape that future in which we and they will live. As such, setting our children out on the right path through our school system is of utmost importance. I believe that the school board is an integral part of establishing that path, guiding our young people along it, and I look forward to helping them along their way.
With a child in grade school, I am well aware that the school system raises our children just as much as we do ourselves as parents, helping to shape them into the people that they will be as adults. While they are away from us at school, it becomes the task of our educators to guide our children for us, seeing to it that they have the knowledge and skills to become ethical, responsible, productive citizens and life-long learners. With this great burden that we lay upon them, I feel it is imperative that we do everything that we can to provide our educators with the devices, training, and facilities that they need in order to successfully mold our students.
I believe that fostering an atmosphere of learning for not only academics but also industrial arts, agricultural sciences, visual and performing arts, and extracurricular activities helps to broaden our children’s horizons. In a day in which many school districts feel that cutting these non-academic programs is a justifiable way to save money, I am resolved that they are an indispensable part of our educational system and should continue indefinitely.  While I hold a degree from the University of Wyoming in mechanical engineering, I truly believe that not every student’s path will lead them to a university degree. Many of our students endeavor to enter the workforce in a trade such as a welder, rancher, mechanic, or artist. Continuing to offer curriculum which supports these undertakings is essential to their future. 
I am not running for a seat on the school board because I feel that the board or district necessarily need to be changed or reformed in any specific way, but rather because I want to see that our school district continues to succeed and move forward progressively while still maintaining the ideals and traditions that make communities such as ours a great place to live and raise a child. I am excited about the possibility of serving our children, parents, educators, and community with a seat on the Weston County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees, and ask for your support in the upcoming election. Thank you.