I grew up in Indiana as the oldest of 6 children. The k-6 school I attended was the poorest academic-achieving public school in Indianapolis. We struggled with poverty just like everyone in my neighborhood did. I have only attended public schools. I "accidentally" went to college because of an intervention and mentoring by a particular teacher in high school who stayed with me after school to complete college applications and encouraged me that I could succeed in that environment.
I attended Miami University in Ohio and graduated with degrees in Psychology and Women's Studies. I had another mentor in the college who encouraged me to attend graduate school and played a significant role in helping me achieve that pathway. I earned a Master's degree in Education focused on College Student Personnel as well as a graduate certificate in Gender Studies. I have worked with domestic violence shelters and rape crisis hotlines and my graduate work focused on conflict resolution and behavioral change with students. I worked as the Coordinator for Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution at Florida International University in Miami, FL for a few years before relocated to Sonora, CA in 2005. That position required mediating conflicts among groups, providing structure and boundaries around student conduct issues, and provided me with management experience as well.
When I moved to Sonora, I experienced a bit of a career shift and began working as a social worker in Child Protective Services for Tuolumne County. I proudly did that work for a little over 12 years. I was a social worker and later a supervisor of social workers, giving me experience working with our local families as well as with management, budgets, and teaching . When I left social work, I worked for two years as a crisis counselor at Tenaya Elementary School in Groveland. This allowed me to work with individual students, groups of students, teachers, administrators, and families who were experiencing the effects of poverty, grief and loss, or trauma with the goal of being able to provide supportive services and a space for people to carve out strategies they could use toward student success and learning.
I currently work several part-time jobs as a faculty member with Columbia College, an instructor with UC Davis Northern Training Academy, and am contracted as a Court investigator for Tuolumne County. I have 5th grade and 7th grade children attending Columbia, who have attended the school since kindergarten, and I believe now is the right time for me to commit energy and experience toward to the School Board to help shine the strengths of our district and make changes toward student success as we continue into the future.
Columbia Union Elementary School DistrictCandidate for Board Member
Rebekah Sandlin
Educator/Instructor
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Candidate has provided information.
My Top 3 Priorities
- represent the voices of families, children and teacher/staff for the school
- expand extracurricular activities while maintaining a fiscally responsible budget
- ensure children and families receiving special education services are represented in policy decisions
Experience
Experience
Profession:Education
Part time faculty, Counselor, Columbia College (2017–current)
contracted Instructor, UC Davis Northern Training Academy (2015–current)
contractor Court Investigator, Tuolumne County Superior Court (2020–current)
Social Worker and Social Worker Supervisor, Tuolumne County Adult, Child and Family Services (2005–2017)
Education
Bowling Green State University — Master of Arts, Education/College Student Personnel (2003)
Bowling Green State University — Graduate Certificate, Gender Studies (2003)
Miami University — Bachelor of Arts, Psychology (2000)
Miami University — Bachelor of Arts, Women's Studies (2000)
Biography
Who supports this candidate?
Featured Endorsements
- Stanislaus and Tuolumne Counties Central Labor Civil Union
Elected Officials (1)
- Columbia Union Teacher's Association
Political Beliefs
Political Philosophy
I am committed to listening to all the voices and perspectives in our school district and believe leadership is about listening and making choices the represent the voices and choices our our community. I am in support of social services and supports to help our families and am also fiscally responsible and will make choices to ensure the school district has the supplies needed to support student success.
