Elections Database
White River school district director, district 3« Go back
Kim Demarest
Residence: Buckley
Contact: 360-897-2744
E-mail: kimerzde@yahoo.com
Occupation: Tribal Gaming Investigator

Experience: 15+ years PTA volunteer experience in all grades, 8+ years 4-H youth leader with dog project, former Girl Scout leader.

Education: three years undergraduate work at Northern Michigan University in Psychology and Elementary Education. 2007-current Grand Canyon University, Elementary Education, English emphasis, ESL Certification, Kappa Delta Pi educational honor society member. Scheduled to graduate in January 2010.

What do you see as the three top issues facing the district?
1. The budget and returning money to our emergency fund. 2. Getting the community involved in our school district. Property value is directly related the reputation of your school district. 3. Providing more opportunities for our students to be involved in extra curricular activities that give them an edge when applying for colleges, trade schools and jobs.

What measures would you support to keep the district living within its means?
I believe we need to consider cutting the administration before we cut any more teachers and crowding any more classes. If the unions agree a four day work week could save the district thousands of dollars in food and transportation.

What more should the district do to improve student achievement?
We need to build community within our school district. Student tutoring programs can fulfill the community service requirement for secondary students while providing a mentor relationship between the secondary grades and the primary grades.

Personal Statement:
With all the issues in our school district, we have to start looking outside the box for answers to our problems. We need to continue to raise our test scores, provide more tutoring and activities that give all out students an outlet and a sense of belonging.

Denise Vogel
Residence: Bonney Lake
Contact: 253-891-0538
E-mail: denisevogel@comcast.net
Occupation: Homemaker

Experience: Mother of 4 for 23 years. Appointed to School Board - June 2005, the Bond/Levy Committee -- 2000, the Wickersham Steering Committee -- 1999, Growth Committee -- 1998. I have volunteered at all three levels of our District. I have worked with my Church Youth Group for 10 years, coordinating activities for teens ages 12 -- 18. I currently serve with the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 305, as the advancement chair.

Education: Orting High School Graduate; attended Pierce College and Ricks College.

What do you see as the three top issues facing the district?
1. Keeping our focus on improving student achievement throughout the district. 2. Recruiting and retaining qualified teachers in a tough budget climate. 3. Improving communications with community members and faculty.

What measures would you support to keep the district living within its means?
We need to continually review our budget to ensure that we are within State budget formulas for all staffing. Through budget reduction efforts, the District has increased its reserve toward State and Board policy expectations and needs to stay vigilant in that effort. Even with limited resources, the focus should remain on improving student learning.

What more should the district do to improve student achievement?
We need to maintain our data driven focus. With great effort from our teachers and administrators, our district has made huge strides in our Professional Learning Communities work and evidence is clear in our K-5 data. We need to continue that growth into our secondary levels as we challenge and support students. All kids can learn at high levels - we just have to find the most effective way for each student.

Personal Statement:
This is an exciting time for education despite the budget challenges Washington State schools face. Good things continue to happen in White River. Teachers and staff are focused on student learning and our test scores continue to improve. We have implemented programs to challenge advanced students while providing improved support for struggling students. I want to continue this exciting work and I'm proud to represent the communities of the White River School District.