Tim Walz: Former teacher, now candidate for Minnesota Governor

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Tim Walz

Tim Walz: Former high school social studies teacher, veteran, current US Congressman, and candidate for Minnesota Governor.

Today an astounding number of talented educators are accomplishing great things in politics. One of these is Tim Walz, a former teacher and current US Congressman who is running for the office of governor of Minnesota. In last summer’s primary, Tim garnered the Democratic nomination for his state’s top office.

Tim points with pride to the fact that he was raised in a small town in rural Nebraska. “Small-town life and working on family farms each summer taught me fundamental lessons about the importance of family and the value of hard work,” Tim declares. “I had wonderful public school teachers, great neighbors, and loving parents,” he recalls.

As a teenager, Tim graduated from Nebraska’s Butte High School. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the Army National Guard, and by 1989, he was honored as Nebraska’s Citizen-Soldier of the Year. As a young man, Tim traveled the country working at a number of odd jobs, including building grain silos, factory work, and mortgage loan processing. During this time, he accepted a temporary teaching position at the Native American Reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. His stint there convinced Tim to choose education as his life profession.

Tim enrolled in Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences in 1989. The next year, Harvard University offered him a teaching position with one of the first government-approved groups of American teachers to work in the People’s Republic of China. He worked there from 1989-1990.

When he returned from China, Tim settled in his home town in Nebraska, and resumed teaching and coaching. He also inaugurated a small business, the Educational Travel Adventures, Inc., which offered opportunities for American high school students to take trips to China. It didn’t take long for Tim’s community to recognize how exceptional the young teacher was. In 1993, he was named the Outstanding Young Nebraskan by the Nebraska Junior Chamber of Commerce for his service in education, small-business, and the military.

Tim and his wife Gwen, a Minnesota native, moved to Mankato, Minnesota, in 1996, where Tim became a teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School. There he helped coach the football team to win the school’s first state championship.

For his work in the classroom, Tim has earned many accolades. He was named a Minnesota Ethics in Education Award winner in 2002, and in 2003 he garnered honors as both the Mankato Teacher of the Year and a Minnesota Teacher of Excellence. After this, Tim completed his Master’s degree in Educational Leadership (2001) and enrolled in a doctoral program at St. Mary’s University in Winona.

In 2004, the social studies educator decided to become personally involved in politics. He ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2006 and won, defeating six-term incumbent Gil Gutknecht. Tim was re-elected to five more terms. As a Congressman, Tim is a member of the House Agriculture Committee and currently serves as the ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Tim also serves as co-chair of the National Guard & Reserve Components Caucus, the House Congressional Veterans Jobs Caucus, and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus. In addition, he co-founded the Congressional Propane Caucus.

In last summer’s primary, this impressive former teacher won the Democratic nomination for governor of the state of Minnesota. His name will appear on the ballot in this November’s mid-term elections. To learn more, you can visit his website at www.walzflanagan.org.

Educator Jack Reavis makes bid for seat in Oklahoma State House of Representatives

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Jack Reavis

Veteran educator Jack Reavis makes a bid for a seat in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives.

In this year’s mid-term elections, there are many educators running hotly contested political races. One of them is teacher Jack Reavis, who is bidding for a seat in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives. Last June, the veteran educator won the Democratic primary for District 14. In the November election, Jack will face Republican candidate Chris Sneed.

Jack has dedicated the last 24 years of his life working as a high school history teacher for Muskogee High School in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He plans to use his skills as an educator to succeed in the House, if elected. “In my life, learning the art of listening has been essential to building relationships built on mutual trust,” declares Jack. Furthermore, he asserts, “We can make our government work, but we have to participate in the process.”

Jack holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies Education and a Master of Arts degree in American Studies. He earned both from Northeastern State University located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Jack is particularly interested in policies that affect public education and health care. He wants to see a return of the seven hospitals and numerous health care facilities that have left his part of the state in the last two years. “If you’re a single mother in northeastern Oklahoma, you shouldn’t have to take a full day off work and lose that day’s pay, just to take a sick child with an ear-ache to a clinic,” Jack says. “If we truly are pro-life—and I am pro-life, not just pro-birth—you need to support the programs that support life after a child is born, including public education and healthcare.”

To learn more about Jack Reavis, visit his website at www.reavisforhouse.com.

Educator Aimy Steele runs for seat in the North Carolina State House of Representatives

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Aimy Steele

Spanish teacher and high school principal Aimy Steele runs for office in the North Carolina State House of Representatives.

Today’s political environment offers many opportunities for educators to run for offices of public service. One educator who has decided to do this is Aimy Steele, a Spanish teacher and high school principal who is making a bid for a seat in the North Carolina State House of Representatives.

“I spent years thinking if there was a teacher or principal at the decision-making table—someone who could really inform lawmakers about how proposed laws would really impact students and teachers – perhaps they would make different decisions,” explains Aimy. Now, the veteran educator believes she can be the one who makes that difference.

Aimy earned her Bachelor’s in Spanish Language Education in 2002, her Master’s in School Administration in 2013, and her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction in 2017, all from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Aimy inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a Spanish teacher at Northwest Cabarrus High School, where she worked from 2008-2011. She spent the next year as a Principal Intern at Central Cabarrus High School, and in 2013, she was appointed the Assistant Principal of Instruction at Cox Mills Hill School in Concord, North Carolina. From 2014 to the present she has served as the Principal of Beverly Hills High school in Concord.

Aimy is the only Democrat who is running to represent District 82. Her goal is to unseat the Republican incumbent Linda Johnson, who is currently serving as the Chairman of the North Carolina House Education Committee. “As a woman of color, I want to bring diverse voices into our state legislature by talking to constituents and making sure their voices are heard,” expresses Aimy. “I want to let them know that not only does their vote matter, but their voices, their suggestions and their opinions matter too. That’s one thing I specifically want to change,” she concludes.

You can learn more about Aimy on her website at www.aimysteele.com.

Congressional candidate Julia Peacock: “I’m just a teacher”

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Julia Peacock

California educator Julia Peacock is bidding for a seat in the US Congress.

Today’s political climate has given rise to a number of capable and determined educators who have thrown their hats in the ring for public office. One of these is Democrat Julia Peacock, a California teacher who is bidding for a place in the US Congress representing District 42. If she gets elected, she will successfully unseat Republican Ken Calvert, who has occupied the office for the past 25 years.

Julia inaugurated her career as a public school teacher in Moreno Valley, where she taught junior high school. After ten years there, she moved to a position at Boys Republic, a school for incarcerated boys, where she taught reading intervention and the GED program. Currently, Julia works in the Perris Union High School District, where she teaches reading intervention and sophomore English. “I have always worked in low-income, high-risk schools because I believe education is the great equalizer when it comes to being able to change your life circumstances for the better,” explains the veteran educator.

Among the causes that Julia is most passionate about is education, health care, the environment, women’s rights, gun reform, and veterans’ benefits.

Julia currently serves as a delegate for the National Education Association. She is also a member of the Perris Secondary Educators’ Association, and a member of the UCLA Alumni Association. She resides in Corona, California, with her husband and two children.

To learn more about candidate Julia Peacock, view the video below. You can also visit her website at www.peacockforcongress. 

Teacher Jeanie Smith makes bid for seat in Kentucky State Senate

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Jeanie Smith

Jeanie Smith, a junior high school social studies teacher, runs for office in the Kentucky State Senate.

This election year there are numerous opportunities for civic-minded educators to work towards important social changes. One educator hoping to do this is Jeanie Smith, a junior high school social studies teacher who is running for office in the Kentucky State Senate.

Jeanie is a graduate of Western Kentucky University, where she earned her degree in history and social studies in 2005. As a young woman, she and her husband served as missionaries in Australia, where she developed an outreach program for the needy, managed a food bank, and worked with her church to foster a greater sense of community. She also created a Sunday School curriculum for children there.

When Jeanie and her husband returned to the United States, the couple settled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where she began working with a local farmers’ market to establish a program that would help low-income families have access to fresh locally grown foods.

Jeanie has been in the classroom for five years. She currently teaches 7th grade history courses at Drakes Creek Middle School in the Warren County Pubic School System located in Bowling Green.

This indefatigable educator is seeking election to Kentucky’s 32nd District. Her goal is to unseat the Republican incumbent, Mike Wilson. “Teachers see the realities of our communities,” the candidate asserts. “We put food in backpacks to send home on weekends. I have students with parents in jail, students with parents working two jobs. And I realized we can do better. We need lawmakers who understand the middle class and those striving for middle class. Who better to do that than a teacher?”

If elected, Jeanie says she will advocate for increased pay for the hardworking families of Kentucky and create an improved tax system. She is opposed to a new charter school law and a state pension system that’s grossly underfunded.

To learn more about this amazing educator, see her campaign website at Jeanie Smith for Kentucky.com.