As a proud member of the South Loop community since September 2001 and a future SLES parent, I would like to serve on my Local School Council to ensure that every child at South Loop Elementary has a warm and inviting, culturally diverse, inclusive school, where all children develop to their full potential, supported by and connected to the community.
A role on the LSC would be a natural continuation of my commitment to the futures of children all over the South Loop and CPS. I’m an active member of South Loop Moms and Tots and a new member of the LSC for our neighborhood high school, Phillips Academy. I also joined Step Up Women’s Network at its launch party in 2007. As a dedicated volunteer and board member at Step Up, it has been a pleasure to see those contributions bear fruit: I’ve felt like a proud parent watching Step Up’s girls graduate high school, gain acceptance to the colleges of their choice, and blossom in successful careers.
The backbone of Step Up is its network: a key investment that I want to bring to South Loop Elementary. With the support of the school and community, I envision a place where we develop the whole student — not just the academic portion. Self-esteem can take a huge hit in middle school. Creating curriculum and programming that helps all students become confident in their gifts and talents benefits everyone as we create the next generation of leaders.
Before I became a stay-at-home mom to my now-4-year-old son, I worked in finance and owned my own clothing line. Owning a company means I know how to set a strategy, get a team in place to execute it, course-correct when required, and draw from everyone’s strengths to achieve success. I believe that this unique set of skills, plus my ongoing volunteer work for education in Chicago, would make me an ideal candidate for Community Member on South Loop Elementary’s LSC.
I am running as a member of a slate called T.I.M.E for Excellence – Transparency, Inclusion, Metrics and Equity. We reflect the diversity and determination of the parents, caregivers and community members of the South Loop Elementary School to increase the transparency and clarity of communication to the entire school community; to create an inclusive school culture that promotes high levels of collaboration that emphasizes family and community engagement; to implement metrics to evaluate our school’s efforts to continuously improve and to equitably distribute educational opportunities and resources such that all students are well-positioned to achieve at the highest level.
Please vote for me, Kathryn J. McKechnie, on April 18 at the South Loop Elementary main building from 6am-7pm and support our slate – T.I.M.E. for Excellence – (you get to vote for up to 5!) and sign up at our website: TIMEforSLE.com.
Thank you, in advance, for your support of our slate and of an excellent SLE!