Dear neighbor,

As your current School Board Trustee, it's my honor to provide leadership and direction for CUSD. As a long-time resident and dedicated CUSD/FUHSD parent leader and volunteer, my heart is with our community.  I have spent the last 12 years serving in our schools and focused on making the district better - not just for my own children's benefit, but for the larger student body. Whether I was running Walking School Bus, organizing the CLIP 8th grade graduation, coordinating Meyerholz after-school enrichment programs, organizing the Lynbrook wrestling tournament, doing backstage crew for the Meyerholz musical, serving on the CUSD parent advisory committee, or leading as CLIPCO president, I've been able to work collaboratively with other parents, teachers, principals and students to build community, solve problems and create better opportunities for our kids. 

In 2014, when the district was having a substitute teacher shortage, I got my emergency teaching credential and started subbing in our CUSD classrooms. I've gained so much from that experience, understanding curriculum implementation, classroom management and more. Professionally, I've been in education for over 20 years, starting with teaching English in China, where I first saw the power of education to transform lives.  I've worked in college admissions at USC and Carnegie Mellon University, and UC Berkeley.  Through my experience, I've seen what student success looks like from different levels, and I bring that perspective with me as I govern our school district.

I am committed to advocating for our 15,700 students because they deserve an education that is holistic, personal and equips them to fulfill their potential.  We are facing unprecedented challenges, with the pandemic and declining enrollment, but I believe we can face them together, and come out stronger on the other side. Keeping our schools strong ensures that our communities grow even stronger.  I respectfully ask for your vote to keep our schools successful and our students thriving.

In community,

Sylvia

I have a Master's degree in Computer Engineering. I have been an engineering leader from past 19 years. I have been a resident of Cupertino for the past 16 years and have raised two children in CUSD schools with my younger one currently enrolled in CUSD. I have had the pleasure of participating as an active parent volunteer in various school programs such as the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), PTA Reflections, and Project Cornerstone. I have probably taken up every volunteering job out there in our elementary schools.  I have also sought to impact our local community further by founding and building a dance school in Cupertino for the past 15 years– teaching over 1000 students to be great dancers as well as strong leaders. In that same vein, my experience as an engineering leader in the Silicon Valley for the past 19 years has inspired me to organize and lead conferences to inspire and bring together more than 1500 women leaders in tech. My varying passions and projects have amplified the importance of a well-rounded education for children with a healthy mix of liberal arts as well as STEM and have given me the experience to implement that in CUSD. Beyond this, I have also amassed administrative experience through my service on the CUSD citizen advisory committee , as a Fine Arts Commissioner for City of Cupertino and as a board member for Deanza Lions Club International.

I heard the critics’ voices loud and clear when I first ran for school board in 2018. Two years later, I am no longer the “new kid on the block,” after working hard to improve and support our community and schools.

I deepened my community engagement through leadership roles with the Stevens Creek Elementary PTO, Project Cornerstone and Walk-Bike Cupertino, where we were able to advocate for safe routes to schools, improve social emotional learning and create a trusting community. I joined the Measure H Bond oversight committee to gain an intimate view of how our tax dollars are spent on infrastructure.

I learned the most while serving as Treasurer on the ballot measure committee, Citizens for Great Cupertino District Schools, in our fight for equitable local funding for all 25 of our schools. I stood alongside parents, community members, incredibly devoted teachers and staff, manning phone booths and knocking on our neighbors' doors for Measure O. Our district must retain these talented professionals, in order to maintain the high level of academic achievement, for which we are world-renowned!

I will lean on our leaders in Sacramento to look closely at our broken school funding, and work hard to propose and implement solutions. I will continue to monitor our district budget holding staff accountable for their decisions. I pledge to continue fighting for our kids, our schools and our communities.

Vote Wil for Schools!

Education, environment & energy are my top priorities.

Visit www.wil4schools.org for more information.