Primary election for Waterford Graded board set for Tuesday, Feb. 18

By Patricia Bogumil

Editor

Voters living in the villages of Waterford and Rochester and some in the towns of Dover, Norway and Waterford, go to the polls Tuesday, Feb. 18, to vote in a primary election.

Three candidates are seeking to fill the Waterford Graded School Board position currently held by veteran board member Paul Beyerl, who is not seeking re-election.

The Feb. 18 primary will whittle down the field of three candidates to two. These two will then advance to the April 1 general election.

Information about the Feb. 18 election, including polling place locations and hours, is provided in the legal advertising section, page 8.

The Waterford Graded candidates are Jordan Karweik, Thomas Hoffman and Daniel Bowser.

Each candidate was asked to explain how he would use his unique experience and attributes to benefit the school board and community as a whole.

Their submitted responses follow.

 • Jordan Karweik, 26, lives in the Village of Waterford. He owns JK Insurance Solutions, an independent agency based in Waterford. He holds an associate’s degree from Milwaukee Area Technical College and attended Kaplan College to earn his insurance licenses.

Karweik is a proud graduate of the Waterford schools. “I would not be as intelligent or successful without the education I received through the Waterford school district,” Karweik said.

Karweik said he is a conservative seeking office to bring back communication from the school board to the teachers, citizens and parents.

In the future when he and his wife have children in school, Karweik said he would want the school system to be a top school – “not just for my kids, but for all of the children attending the Waterford schools.”

He will bring leadership experience to the school board, which includes serving on the board of directors for the Brown’s Lake Aquaducks for three years, where he turned the group’s best and hardest fundraiser into an efficient money-generating fundraiser and also led a highly successful membership drive.

Karweik is a member of the Republican Party of Racine, where he said he has volunteered for different causes around the community.

“I support Gov. Scott Walker and support his financial plan that has turned our state around and generated surpluses instead of growing debt,” Karweik said.

“I believe in the importance of the taxpayers’ dollars and I will not squander their generous money.” He said he will talk to the teachers and administration to find out what they want and what they need.

“I plan to use the tools provided in state Act 10, not to push the teachers down, but to create a better school for our community and for the children.”

More information about Karweik’s campaign and his thoughts about solving school district problems can be viewed online at www.vote4karweik.com or www.facebook.com/KarweikforOffice.

      • Tom Hoffman, 37, lives in the Village of Waterford. He is managing partner with Dealer Dynamics, Pewaukee, and holds a bachelor’s degree in business and administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Hoffman said he has the ability to see the issues facing the school district from a number of vantage points, and will share that unique perspective if elected to the school board.

As an established business owner, his position in the business world has given him the experience to understand the importance of operating efficiently and being financially responsible in tough economic conditions, Hoffman said.

As a Waterford homeowner and taxpayer, Hoffman said he understands the impact of property taxes on families.

“With hard work, we can find that happy medium where we control costs by operating efficiently and still provide an excellent education to our students by investing judiciously in existing programs and new initiatives,” he said.

As a parent, Hoffman said he shares the desire for Waterford Graded students to receive the finest education possible for our tax dollars.

Many families have moved here or stayed in the area precisely for Waterford’s great schools, he added.

Hoffman said he understands that his fellow parents want the best for their children, “and I will do my best to ensure they have a positive school experience and are given the tools they need to succeed.”

As the husband of a teacher who taught in a successful district before deciding to take time away from the profession to be an at-home mom to their young children, Hoffman said he can provide helpful insight into mending the board’s relationship with faculty and staff, so all work together as a team.

“To retain our high-quality teachers and attract the best new ones, we need to engage our educators and make them part of the decision-making process.

“While the school board makes the final decisions, I strongly believe our teachers can help the school board make the right decisions.”

More information about Hoffman’s campaign and his thoughts about solving school district problems can be viewed online at www.hoffman2014.org; www.facebook.com/votehoffman; and www.hoffman2014.org/faq.

      • Daniel Bowser, 45, lives in the Tichigan area of the Town of Waterford. He works as an entrepreneur and is approved as an adjunct instructor at Gateway Technical College. Bowser is currently pursuing certifications to teach online courses.

Bowser said that his work experience as an engineering supervisor in a Fortune 100 company and his studies of business and societal trends through the MBA program at Marquette University, will help him bring a global understanding of industry and opportunities to the Waterford Graded position.

He said his passion for education has pushed him to learn more about this topic and connect with educators in the region and beyond.

“We, as a country, need to look beyond standardized testing metrics,” Bowser said, adding that it is interesting that countries with the highest scores in math and science actually produce kids who have the lowest desire to pursue those fields.

In a time when computer technology is increasingly running just about everything, Bowser said he finds it shocking that “we are educating only 4 percent of our youth in this area, compared to 100 percent in China.”

He said he applauds the Chicago Public Schools for recently announcing that computer science will be included as a core K-12 subject and the code.org initiatives, such as the Hour of Code, which a number of local schools (including Fox River Middle School) participated in last December.

“Many of the kids who were part of that event will agree that learning can be fun. We need to get students excited about learning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) if we want the next generation to be prepared for their future, and ours.”

Bowser said he encourages residents to get involved in educating our youth, even if just by learning about the issues and sharing with others. Bowser said he believes the broad understanding and experience he has can help in building an even stronger education system for local youth.

More information about Bowser’s campaign and his thoughts about solving school district problems can be viewed online at www.WaterfordEducation.weebly.com and www.facebook.com/Bowser2014.