The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON-Former Dayton School District Elementary Principal Katie Leid is running for the "at large" school board position currently held by Director Joe Huether, and one he will defend in the upcoming November election. Both Leid and Huether have considerable education and experience to bring to the Board.

Recently retired from the Dayton School District Leid has been involved in education for a total of twenty-two years. She received her teaching credentials in 1991 through Washington State University, and has held a variety of teaching positions, locally, and abroad, as well.

In 1991-92 Leid taught K-12 at the American School of The Hague in the Netherlands. She then returned to Washington, teaching fourth graders in Pullman for five years. Her sixth year in Pullman was spent teaching science methods to juniors and seniors at the WSU College of Education, where she was a Boeing Teacher in Residence.

Leid returned to the American School of The Hague for one year in 1998, where she oversaw middle school special services. That was followed by a stint back in Pullman, where she taught sixth grade and eighth-grade science at Lincoln Middle School.

During that time Leid was certified in early adolescent science, and she received her administrative credentials from WSU in 1997.

Beginning in 2004 Leid served the Dayton School District as the elementary school principal. Among her responsibilities was sharing middle school principal duties with the high school principal.

She also reported to and made presentations to the Dayton School board members for nine years, until her retirement in 2013.

"Through that experience I became familiar with how a board governs," she said. "Reflecting on my education, I began to wonder if our citizens and parents truly know what it is a board is required to do.

"As an educator I feel that I can help them understand and learn what a board can do," Leid added. "The perception of public education is very low right now,"

Leid went on to discuss concerns the school board has around such issues as declining enrollment and levy failures. She advocates meeting with school personnel, parents, and the community as one avenue for addressing those issues.

"If the state of Washington does its duty to fully fund education, we wouldn't be having these problems," Leid explained.

Leid believes her educational background, experience, and knowledge of how administration works makes her an ideal candidate for the school board position.

She said she is a lifelong learner and is passionate about kids getting the best education they can, no matter where they are.

The same can be said about incumbent Joe Huether who is armed with a B.A. in Sociology and an M.Ed in Early Childhood Special Education that he received from the University of Washington in 1975.

When he was at the University of Washington, Huether got to perform field work in an experimental education laboratory for child development that was located on the campus of the University's Medical School.

Since then Huether's entire career has been spent in program development, first in administering the early childhood program for the Richland, Wash. School District in 1975, and in the local Head Start Program.

Huether has also been a co-ordinator for the bilingual program in the Pasco School District's Title VII program, and he has worked in the Pasco School District's reading program, applying educational models to help improve language skills for its students.

Huether has served as both a Special Education Director, and Director of Education Technology at the Education Services District 123 in Pasco.

Identifying students' needs and helping them to help themselves is important to Huether, as is the idea of being an agent for change.

Joe Huether

"Say something new is coming. How can we prepare schools to deal with it?" Huether asked. "We must address internal needs and external requirements. If we give our teachers the tools they need to motivate kids, then our job is done," he added.

Huether echoes Leid's sentiment when it comes to getting the state legislature to meet its requirement to fully fund schools, and the importance of doing so. Huether said he will strongly advocate to get the state to do its part.

Huether believes his education and experience, his ongoing experience as a board member with the District, and the fact that he has visited and observed many other school districts throughout the state will give him the edge on the school board.