This month’s spotlight is Mary Ann Dellinger, a newly elected school board member in Humboldt Unified School District. Our SMART Schools (Schools for Merit, Academics, Respect & Truth) program helped her with knowledge, connections and campaign training.

pring is when parents decide where and how to educate their kids next school year. Debi Vandenboom serves on our Executive Team and has experience in all forms of education—she’s that friend you go to for advice! We asked her to write to all parents needing fresh perspective and the best ways to navigate all your education choices.

Our AZWOA Education Director, Adrienne Johnson, works tirelessly to assist and mentor school board members as well as candidates. Those who lead and guide our most precious Arizona asset—our children—are worthy of the highest scrutiny as well as support (when they take that job seriously) to serve and protect students and families in their schools! Adrienne has a message for all of us: 

Executive Orders are nice—when you like the politics of the President in power. But they can change just as easily with the next President, and even now, they don’t hold the power of law. They simply set a policy that directs the agencies what to do. They are open to lawsuits, which can take months to work out. We need Congress to pass good laws. And that’s why ALL elections, and ALL elected officials matter. 

To celebrate Presidents Day, we must understand that what made President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln great, was not inherently their leadership, wisdom or courage. It was all of those in service to the ideals of liberty and goodness to bless an entire nation of people. Those ideals were inspired by the Bible, and they birthed the ‘brand’ of America. To celebrate Presidents Day is to celebrate America. But have we forgotten ‘our brand’--what America stands