116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
I was born and raised in Williamsburg. I grew up in the country, in a house that was heated with a wood burning stove, so I learned at an early age about the hard work of cutting, chopping and stacking firewood to heat the house. My parents were divorced and my father was an over-the-road construction worker so I spent every other weekend at grandpa & grandma's farm. My grandpa, one of my heroes in life, worked so hard his callused hands couldn't close to form a fist. Even as a young man, I tried to honor my grandfather by making sure that if I wasn't going to early morning workouts, I was clocking in early at Holdens to work a few hours before school started and again after school. My blue collar upbringing taught me the value of hard work and the willingness to dive in and get things done. Those values have followed me through life and have been the #1 factor in any success I've achieved. I am a proud father of three. Owen is 13, Helene is 10, and Iver is 3. My wife Hannah is a school teacher. We live in Williamsburg. If I'm not working, you'll find me in the front or back yard playing with the kids. We also enjoy camping and hiking. When I can get away, I enjoy backpacking, canoeing, cycling, and on rare occasions I sneak in a little hunting. I'm also a member of Williamsburg's volunteer fire department. I was the first member of my family to go to college. My teachers, and coaches, deserve credit for helping me realize college was a dream I could achieve. My appreciation for the encouragement they provided is a huge part of my motivation to take on this challenge. In December of 1998, I graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in Elementary Education. Almost 10 years later, I earned a Masters in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. In 2019, I graduated from the University of Iowa with a Ph.D in Teaching & Learning with a focus on Special Education and a cognate in Educational Leadership & Policy Making. I believe honesty matters and that mistakes are only mistakes if you fail to learn from them. I feel we all have a duty to serve our community in the best way we can. I believe hard work and persistence is underrated. I am evidence of, and a firm believer that, a hand up can go a long way.
Education: we need to fully fund Iowa's public schools in order to do the most good for the most people. Conservation: we should work in bipartisan efforts to improve water and soil quality for our personal health and public environmental and economic health Affordability: we ought to incentivize affordable housing construction, renewable energy industries, and hold price gougers accountable
Our state supplemental aid given to schools used to be 4% consistently from 2006-2010. In the last few years, our Republican-led legislature has decreased that to as low as 1%. We know that costs are rising, this includes utilities, etc. for our school districts. We need to bring SSA back up to 4% so that districts don't have to make devastating cuts in their communities.
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Yes. I look in my Sunday church bulletin and sadly see a long list of prayer requests. We've all been touched by devastating cancer diagnoses in our family or community circles. We need to work together with scientists, doctors, and the agriculture community to reduce these rates and save our loved ones.
Great members of The Izaac Walton League of Iowa have 'citizen scientist' programs like Save Our Streams, Nitrate Watch and Salt Watch. They also partner with other organizations such as the Iowa Nature Summit and Iowa Environmental Council to host the Iowa Water Summit every fall. These groups doing important work should have a seat at the table when policy decisions are being made.
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The legislature should seek to understand healthcare policy options from providers and medical professionals. Policy makers should listen to Iowans and allow reproductive freedom.
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We need more involvement from parents and the community. When you know someone personally, it's easy to find common ground and respect. Nowadays, people might hear something negative from a biased media source, and think they know best when it comes to public education. What we need are more partnerships so that there is a more personal, natural connection between schools and student's home life. Additionally we need to listen to Iowa Association of School Boards and Iowa State Education Association and increase State Supplemental Aid to 4%.
Change policies that have been pushing out our young people. Allow for reproductive freedom, allow for diverse books to be read, allow for people to drink clean water.
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