Trustee, Trustee Area E — Poway Unified School District

I moved to Rancho Penasquitos when I was 4-years-old and attended Poway Unified schools from kindergarten through graduation. The outstanding education I received paved the way for me to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology, a Master’s in Education, and a PhD in Human Services Criminal Justice. My dissertation focused on No Child Left Behind.

My husband, a former Marine, and I moved to Poway 18 years ago knowing that when it was time to have a family, we wanted them to attend the best schools in the county. This Fall, my daughter will start 8^th grade, and my son will enter 4th grade. This means I have a personal stake in this district for another nine years.

I began my professional journey as a Correctional Deputy for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. I then started teaching in both general and special education classrooms within San Diego Unified. During my time in K-12, I held numerous positions including special day class teacher for students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities. I was a resource teacher, designed a learning center for struggling readers, and developed a special education department for a new alternative high school. After earning my doctorate, I slowly transitioned to the university level.

For the past 16 years, I have been a Professor at National University. My diverse credentials have allowed me to teach courses in different subject areas including credentialing and field supervision for up-and-coming teachers. I wrote a Master’s program entitled “Juvenile Justice” with an emphasis in Special Education. For the past seven years, I have been teaching courses in criminal justice. I am an expert at navigating and teaching in an online environment which has proven extraordinarily helpful over the last many months. I have presented at educational conferences all over the world and have several publications. My research interests range from graduation rates, to supports for teachers, to youth leadership.

The unique design of National University has allowed me great flexibility. Over the past eight years, I have served as Garden Road Elementary School’s (GRES) PTA Secretary, PTA Membership Coordinator, Fun Run Chair, Running Club Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, and Room Parent. I have held each of these positions for at least two years. Additionally, I helped rewrite the PTA bylaws and supported nearly every event held at the elementary school as well as some events at Twin Peaks Middle School. I was recently elected to the new PTA board as Vice President. I frequently work as a substitute teacher in the Autism classrooms at GRES. The significant amount of time that I have spent on the GRES campus has allowed me to experience firsthand the disrepair of some of our buildings, the limited availability of resources, and the challenges that staff face. On the flip side, I have had the privilege of seeing how amazing things can happen when the community and parents come together to bridge those gaps.

My dedication to kids extends well beyond the school day. I have been the Girl Scout leader for my daughter’s troop for the past six years. Some of my proudest moments have been with these almost 8th graders: leading them to plan and execute a trip to San Francisco for the National Bridging Ceremony, guiding them to earn their Bronze Award, planning and executing the Cookie Rally back-to-back years for nearly 100 girls, and co-presenting with my girls, on two occasions, at a professional conference aimed at preparing girls to become leaders. The list of their amazing accomplishments is endless and watching them overcome fears, challenge themselves, and embrace the leader within truly fills me with pride. It is a joy to play a role in their journeys.

I have a successful track record of dedication, passion, working cohesively with a team, transparency, and follow-through. These characteristics will continue to be at the forefront of my efforts as a School Board Representative.

We are in an unprecedented time, not knowing what the school day will look like for our children come the fall. I know that my work with students of all abilities and all ages puts me in a position to advocate for every child. I know the struggles teachers face. I understand the need for volunteers and financial giving. And even in the face of this great adversity, I refuse to let any of our children get less than the outstanding education that brought my husband and me to this great district 18 years ago. My wealth of experience has me perfectly positioned for this role, and I hope you will support me this November so that I may rise to the challenge of representing our children at the district level. 

I am not a politician. I am a concerned parent and teacher. I have dedicated over 22 years to education and youth programs. It would be an honor to be able to continue to make a positive on children on a greater scale. 

I’m a retired US Naval Officer. I've been married to Verena for over 20 years now, and we have literally lived all over the country, including a couple of years in Italy. We spent the last three years of service in Annapolis, MD. We always knew we would end up back in Poway once our military career would come to an end. We have time and again brought our four beautiful children on our little "Amazing Race" and they have all persevered with uncanny joy and resilience.

• Lisa graduated from Poway High School in 2018
• Julian will be attending UC Davis in the fall of 2020
• Emerson will be attending Poway High School this fall.
• Cooper is enjoying his time learning and socializing with friends at Garden Road Elementary :)

Now a little bit more about me...

I currently lead an engineering team of 40+ personnel as a Department of Defense contractor and I'm an Economics Adjunct Professor at Palomar College. My parents were refugees from Palestine and immigrated to the United States in the early 70's. Shortly after graduating from Thomas Edison Senior High School in Stockton, California, I enlisted into United States Navy. I served in the Naval Nuclear Power Program, and in 1996 I received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy (USNA).

I graduated from the USNA in 2000, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in History. I earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (USC) in 2011. While at USC, I was the President of the Marshall Military Veterans Association.

With a focus in entrepreneurial studies at USC, I earned the

   - Marcia Israel Award – Most Outstanding Entrepreneurial Graduate Student  

   - Best Graduate Business Plan Award

My final tour in the Navy included three rewarding years at the USNA serving as an Economics Master Instructor and the Economics Department Associate Chair. It's definitely much more pleasant on the teaching side of the podium. By the end of my tour, I was ranked #1 out of 40 Naval Officers by the USNA Academic Dean & Provost.

Along with coaching on the USNA Varsity Sprint Football team and as a mentor for the USNA Varsity Baseball team, the one accomplishment I'm most proud of is leading the way and taking the Economics Department and USNA through a major curricular change to establish a new STEM-centric Economics major.

Our world is changing and becoming ever more technical. USNA recognizes these changes by implementing a relatively new Cyber Security major and now two years into implementing a new Economics major with a quantitative emphasis.

I have over 27 years of proven leadership experience in Academic and Operational Administration, and Program Management to include contracts, acquisitions, budget, and financial management. I'm a proven leader with a strong background in business disciplines and a passion for team building, leadership, and education.

During my initial run for PUSD school board in 2016, discussions with parents emphasized the importance of Mental Health in our schools. This motivated me to earn a master’s degree in Performance Psychology from National University in 2018, and now I am a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC). My certification is administered through the Association for Applied Sports Psychology and accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. Professionals in the CMPC community help individuals and teams with various topics like motivation, self-confidence, anxiety, and team dynamics just to name a few.

I’ve spent over 400 hours of service over the past two years volunteering with the Poway High Football team as a leadership and mental skills coach.  I’ve worked with numerous coaches, players and parents teaching skills on how to practice self-confidence, cope with anxiety and raise awareness during competition, and learn the importance of community.  

I believe Poway Unified School District needs someone with my extensive capabilities. When you couple my business and program management background with my teaching and consulting experience, I’m hoping you’ll agree that Poway Unified School District will benefit from someone with my skill set and experience now and more than ever before.

As a Poway homeowner with school-aged children, I look forward to serving on the Poway Unified School Board with the highest ethical standards in mind.

COVID-19 has presented quite a bit of uncertainty, not only in our health care system and financial markets, but more importantly in our youth’s education.

I believe my experiences in education, the military, and leadership are exactly what our community needs in this time of uncertainty. We are going to be faced with great challenges in the next four years. Not only are we going to have to figure out how to deal with the second and third order effects of COVID-19, but we are also going to have to deal with financial struggles that many school districts are facing as we continue deficit spending practices. Looking forward, it is imperative for our future board members to provide fiscal oversight and carefully evaluate future spending decisions. 

With over 25-years of leadership experience in multiple disciplines to include Program Management, Government Contracting, Academic Administration, and Curriculum Development, I have trained to figuratively parachute into uncharted territory, quickly assess the requirements necessary to get the job done, and then make it happen. These skills have served me well not only as a Logistics Officer serving in the Mediterranean Sea or as the Naval Academy's Economics Department Associate Chair, but will also serve me well as your School Board Trustee leading in these unprecedented times.