Elections 2012: Bekki Van Voorhis-Gilbert, Candidate for OUSD Board of Trustees

General Information

Name : Bekki Van Voorhis-Gilbert
Age : 46

Place of residence : Orinda, Ca since 2002

Education

College

Attended college : Yes
College : University of San Francisco, BA Psychology, Graduate with Honors
Degree : BA
Year of graduation : 1987

Grad school

University : University of San Francisco
Degree : Juris Doctor, admitted to California State Bar, Dec. 1990
Year of graduation : 1990

University : UC Berkeley

Degree : Ph.d
Area of research : Social Welfare, Advanced to Candidacy with Honors
Year of graduation : 1998

Employment Information

Job titles held : NA
Employers : Gordon & Rees, LLP Attorneys at Law, San Francisco, CA, 1988-1991; CSU Hayward, Department of Sociology and Social Services 1996-2004

Political Information

Party affiliation : DTS
Running for a: Local office
Running for position: Orinda Union Board of Trustees

URLs

www.bekkigilbert.com

Other facts

As a mother of two children in the Orinda Schools, I am running for the OUSD Board of Trustees. I believe that my experience as an educator and leadership in a wide range of voluntary activities along with my professional training in law, social welfare policy and child development make me well-qualified to serve our community in these difficult times. I have attended many OUSD School Board Meetings. I have visited all 5 OUSD school sites – talking with parents, teachers and staff to learn about what they see as currently working well in the OUSD and their hopes for the future. What I have learned has helped shape my platform. Advancement of 21st Century Student Skill: OUSD students have consistently achieved an outstanding record on the conventional measures of academic performance. However, the academic requirements of the 21st century are changing. New skills are in demand based on, for example, advanced information technology, critical thinking and project-based learning. The OUSD has tremendous potential to provide intellectual leadership in reshaping the standard educational model to meet this challenge. Fiscal Responsibility and Academic Excellence during Difficult Economic Times: State Budget Projections for the next five years are bleak. The District needs to formulate a thoughtful Strategic Plan that generates greater efficiencies, explores cross/intradistrict collaboration and advances creative revenue generating ideas. Responsiveness to Community, Parent and Teacher Opinion: Parents, teachers and community members should be treated as partners in the educational enterprise; District Surveys of parents and teachers should be initiated and used to help inform decision making. If elected I will do everything in my power to make informed and responsible decisions that will benefit the entire OUSD Community.