The Sartell-St. Stephen School Board candidates, who are running unopposed, are as follows:
Lesa Kramer, Pam Raden and Jason Nies. Three seats are open in the Nov. 8 election.
Lesa Kramer
Name (and family information, if you wish):
Lesa Kramer, husband Dan, son Brandon
Please give a brief biographical background:
- Graduate of Rocori High School and St. Cloud State University.
- Court operations analyst with the Minnesota Judicial Branch. Employed by court system for 29 years.
- Sartell Resident for more than 20 years.
- Member of St Francis Xavier Church
- Served as Faith Formation assistant, St. Francis Xavier Church, for nine years
- Served on Sartell Baseball Association Board
- Served on Sartell-St. Stephen Community Education Committee
- Served as member of the Sartell-St. Stephen Community Planning Initiative
- Served on Sartell-St. Stephen School Board 2009-12
Pleases give highlights of your education, jobs you’ve held, memberships, honors received, special skills and knowledge: See above
Why are you qualified to serve as a school-board member?
I have always been passionate about education, and I’ve kept current with school district matters since my previous term expired in 2012. I believe my previous service on the Sartell-St. Stephen School Board would serve me well as well as having served as a member of the Sartell-Stephen Community Planning Initiative.
In which ways do you think the Sartell-St. Stephen School District could be improved?
As with any organization, we should always be seeking improvement. The building projects that will be occurring during the next years will provide the district the opportunity to enhance in many areas.
Is there too much pressure put upon students these days with the academic loads, testing, extracurricular activities, sports, volunteerism, lack of sleep and so forth? How could those pressures be lessened?
Each student is different, which is why it’s important parents and students determine what level of activity is appropriate so as to not create undue pressure. Open communication between parents and students will assist with making these decisions.
Horrific examples of bullying continue to make local and national news. Have you closely examined the district’s policy about bullying? What would you change, if anything, in that policy?
The Sartell-St. Stephen School District bullying policy was reviewed just this year. All board policies are reviewed on a regular basis to make sure they are compliant with current statutory language and any other changes that need to be made. The Minnesota School Board Association provides recommended language for certain school-board policies that can be used or modified by the board. Once a policy has been adopted, the school board then charges the superintendent to make sure the policy is followed.
There have been partnerships between the school district and city government. Do you approve of such partnerships. If so, which kinds of projects in the future could be created via partnerships?
The collaborative efforts between the Sartell-St. Stephen School District and the cities of Sartell and St. Stephen are important to not only the school district but also to the cities. Strong communities are built on strong school districts and strong school districts are surrounded by strong cities. We need to continue to work together on future projects to provide the best experience for all.
What are the greatest strengths of the Sartell-St. Stephen School District? How can those strengths be maintained and made even stronger?
The level of education provided to our students in our district is well known across the state. The passing of the referendum this year is a way we’ll be able to provide greater opportunities and excellent schools for our students.
What are the weaknesses in the school district? How can they be eliminated or turned into strengths?
One item that could be seen as both a strength but also a weakness is how quickly our district has grown and continues to grow. It’s a great problem to have when other districts are finding themselves shrinking, but with our growth also comes the difficulty of determining how much space will be needed in the future. We want to continue growing our district so we don’t want to see the problem go away, but purposeful planning will help reduce the impact of the continued growth.
Sartell is well known for the excellence of its schools. To what do you attribute such ongoing excellence and how can it be both maintained and made even better?
The excellence can be summed up in two words – Sabre Pride! Our students and parents are proud of the education they receive from the Sartell-St. Stephen School District, and that pride inspires them to work harder. Sabre Pride is contagious, and it spills over into our communities and results in support for our student body.
Name the one thing you would change about our schools if you could.
If I could change one thing it would be we wouldn’t have to wait for construction to be completed to make the building changes that are planned. It would provide the relief to staff and students and allow for increased program opportunities immediately.
Jason Nies
Name (and family information, if you wish): Jason Nies. Age 45. Family: Married (23 years) to Kim Thyen Nies. Four children: MacKenzie – 2015 graduate of Sartell High School, Tristen – junior at Sartell High School, Mitiku – seventh-grader at Sartell Middle School and Genet – fifth-grader at Sartell Middle School.
Please give a brief biographical background: A resident of Sartell for more than 29 years, an alumnus of Sartell High School, a parent to one graduate and three children at two different schools in our district. I have a vested interest in maintaining the high standard and reputation that has been established in our great district.
Please give highlights of your education, jobs you’ve held, memberships, honors received, special skills and knowledge: Graduated from Sartell High School, 1989; graduated from St. Cloud State with a bachelor’s degree in economics, 2000; Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), 2007. For the past 13 years I have worked at Consolidated Communications (formerly Enventis). I am currently a senior pre-sales engineer for Unified Communications. My work consists of providing primary pre-sales technical support and direction to sales professionals and support staff.
Why are you qualified to serve as a school-board member? I have served on the school board for the past four years and on our Finance, Operations and Technology committees.
In which ways do you think the Sartell-St. Stephen School District could be improved? Currently we are struggling with space in most of our buildings. We are lucky to have such a great staff who is able to come up with some very creative ways to use every square foot of our buildings. We are thankful the voters in our district understood our current space issues and so graciously passed our school referendum.
Is there too much pressure put upon students these days with the academic loads, testing, extracurricular activities, sports, volunteerism, lack of sleep and so forth? How could those pressures be lessened? Our student body has done an exceptional job managing the pressures they are faced with on a daily basis. I would love to see our school district continue to support the existing resources and add new resources to help students manage and meet these expectations and pressures.
Horrific examples of bullying continue to make local and national news. Have you closely examined the district’s policy about bullying? What would you change, if anything, in that policy? Yes, I have examined our policy on bullying. We are constantly reviewing all of our policies. I believe we have a strong policy in place with regards to bullying.
There have been partnerships between the school district and city government. Do you approve of such partnerships? If so, which kinds of projects in the future could be created via partnerships? Yes, I believe partnerships between the school and the city are very important. We are currently working closely with them to ensure the infrastructure (roads, biking/walking trails) will be in place to support the new high school when it opens.
What are the greatest strengths of the Sartell-St. Stephen School District? How can those strengths be maintained and made even stronger? Our administrators and teachers are the greatest asset of our district. We have an exceptional group of teachers in this district who go above and beyond their responsibilities to educate the students. They dedicate hours and resources outside of their job descriptions to assure academic success for all. It’s not uncommon to receive emails from our children’s teachers in the early hours of the morning, in the evening and even on the weekends regarding classroom updates. They arrive in classrooms early or stay late, on their own personal time, to assist kids with homework. We need to continue to support our teachers with manageable class sizes, the tools to enhance the education of all students including, enhanced technology and all the resources to do their jobs effectively with the most positive outcome for all students.
What are the weaknesses in the school district? How can they be eliminated or turned into strengths? Again I believe our current lack of space is our biggest issue and with the newly passed referendum we will be able to address this issue.
Sartell is well known for the excellence of its schools. To what do you attribute such ongoing excellence and how can it be both maintained and made even better? Great parents, great teachers and administrators, and great community support all contribute to excellence in our district. As long as we remember all of the decisions we make need to be in the best interest of the students, we will continue our tradition of excellence.
Name the one thing you would change about our schools if you could. I’m not sure there is anything I would change right now. This is an exciting time for our school district. We are hard at work designing a new high school and transforming our other buildings so they can support 21st century learning.
Pam Raden
Name (and family information, if you wish): Pamela A. Raden. Married 25 years to Scott Raden. Children: 2. Tianna (19) 2015 graduate of Sartell High School and now a sophomore at Gustavus Adolphus College, majoring in elementary education. Thomas (16) is a junior at Sartell High School.
Please give a brief biographical background: I am 52 years old. I grew up in the Pierz area, moved to this area in 1988, married in 1990, and bought our current business in 1995. Elected to the board in 2012.
Please give highlights of your education, jobs you’ve held, memberships, honors received, special skills and knowledge: Education History: Graduated from Healy High School in Pierz, 1982; graduated from Bemidji Sate University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration emphasizing marketing and a minor in computer science, 1986
Work History I have owned a small business, The Johnson Group Marketing Inc., a full-service advertising agency, employing between 10 and 15 people for more than 20 years with my husband, Scott. My professional expertise is in marketing, account relations and public relations. I have many years of leadership experience through my business and volunteering on boards, committees, and elementary and junior-high coaching.
Community Leadership Experience: CentraCare Foundation Board Member – 2015 to present; Sartell/St. Stephen Education Foundation Board Member/Executive Committee – past member; St. Cloud Area Chamber, Chair of the Board 2008, Board of Directors 2002–09; Sartell Junior Olympic Volleyball Board member – 2010-13; Children’s Day Montessori School Chair of Board 2006/Board of Directors 2002-07; District 748 Levy Committee leader – 2010; Forum of Executive Women Board of Directors 2003-05; St. Francis Xavier Elementary School – Marketing Committee 2003–08/2010; Volleyball coach for girls grades 4-8 during the past 15 years; Wheels, Wings and Water Festival Board member/marketing director 1990-2000; St. Cloud School of Business instructor, sales and marketing 1990-94; Junior Achievement instructor for six years, 2005-11; and Volunteer at School – field trips and homeroom parent.
Why are you qualified to serve as a school-board member? I have served for the past four years. I understand the role of the school board. We look at the big picture for our district. We are policy makers, responsible for our district’s financial health, and we hire and review the performance of our superintendent. Owning a business for more than 20 years has given me a great foundation for skills needed to be on the board, skilled at process of making decisions, human resource experience and fiscal responsibility.
In which ways do you think the Sartell-St. Stephen School District could be improved? With more space. We are simply lacking the space we need to dive deeper into “Active Learning.”
Is there too much pressure put upon students these days with the academic loads, testing, extracurricular activities, sports, volunteerism, lack of sleep and so forth? How could those pressures be lessened? I think life overall, in this day and age, is filled with too many pressures. In a school-district setting, parents and government drive a lot of those expectations.
Horrific examples of bullying continue to make local and national headlines. Have you closely examined the district’s policy about bullying? What would you change, if anything, in that policy? I feel we have a strong anti-bullying policy.
There have been partnerships between the school district and city government. Do you approve of such partnerships. If so, which kinds of
projects in the future could be created via partnerships? I am a strong advocate of partnerships and strong communications between each of these entities. Partnerships help a community thrive together. For instance, we are working closely with the city to make sure the roads will be adequate to accommodate the increased flow of traffic and the additional usage when our new high school opens.
What are the greatest strengths of the Sartell-St. Stephen School District? How can those strengths be maintained and made even stronger? Our greatest strengths are our amazing parent and community support and our district staff. Our continued support of our shared vision for the district will be critical to maintaining our levels of success.
What are the weaknesses in the school district? How can they be eliminated or turned into strengths? Space is our weakness, and our community understood that and supported us in building and remodeling our district space.
Sartell is well known for the excellence of its schools. To what do you attribute such ongoing excellence and how can it be both maintained and made even better? I attribute our ongoing excellence to our teachers, our parents and our district leadership. We will continue to be excellent as long as we continue to keep learning the focus of our decisions.
Name the one thing you would change about our schools if you could. MORE TIME! For our staff to receive on-going training about current learning trends, teaching methods and collaboration time.
Lesa Kramer
Jason Nies
Pam Raden