Meet the school board candidates for Zionsville Community Schools

The Zionsville Community Schools Board of Trustees has five seats, three of which are up for election. One at-large position, a Union Township position and an Eagle Township position are on the ballot. Any registered voter can choose one candidate for each position, regardless of their address.

Here are the candidates on the ballot:

At Large

One position is available.

Christy Wessel-Powell

Christy Wessel-Powell is an assistant professor of literacy and language education at Purdue University, where her research focuses on literacy and equity. She has worked in multiple higher education positions since 2010, including a student teaching supervisor and literacy clinic coordinator, and served as a K-5 literacy support coach for one year in Missouri. Wessel-Powell's main points on her platform are maintaining a close-knit community while supporting ZCS growth, providing teachers support and autonomy and maintaining safety of students. Wessel-Powel has two children in Zionsville Community Schools. She is endorsed by the current board president Debbie Ungar.

Learn more about Wessel-Powell at christywesselpowel.wixsite.com/christy4schoolboard.

Matthew Keefer

Dr. Matthew Keefer has been a practicing anesthesiologist for more than 20 years. Keefer began attending school board meetings last year in order to voice his opinion against school masking policies. Some points of his platform include promoting vocational education opportunities and encouraging educators to “teach students how to think, not what to think,” according to Keefer’s campaign website. Keefer has four children who graduated from Zionsville Community Schools and three grandkids who attend ZCS.

Learn more about Keefer at www.mattkeeferforschoolboard.com.

Sarah Esterline Sampson

Sarah Sampson has been working as a stay-at-home mom since she had her first child. Before then, she was a certified public accountant, working as an auditor, according to her campaign website. She has served in various volunteer positions within ZCS for the past 16 years, including the Zionsville Community High School PTO president and the Eagle Elementary teacher services vice president. Her campaign focuses on ideas such as teaching students coping and de-stressing skills and increasing transparency regarding what is going on in classrooms. Sampson is a parent to six ZCS graduates and four kids in the school system.

Learn more about Sampson at sarahesampson.com.

Eagle Township

One position is available.

Michael Berg

Michael Berg has been on the school board for four years and is the current board secretary. He is a licensed therapist and the Ryan White Services Program Manager, managing programs for people with HIV, for a large health network. His campaign focuses on maintaining teachers’ autonomy in the classroom and ensuring that ZCS continues to responsibly manage tax dollars. Berg has two daughters currently in ZCS.

Learn more about Berg at www.facebook.com/Berg4Board.

Timothy Hardt

Timothy Hardt is a sales training manager at ANGI. He is a former teacher and worked as a department chair for English-as-a-second-language learning at North Central High School for one- and one-half years, according to his LinkedIn page. He also served as a volleyball coach at both the high school and club level and was the director for the Indy Juniors Volleyball Club. Some topics Hardt included in his campaign are working to increase transparency between the school board and families and working with parents to create clear policies for the schools and teachers. Hardt has two sons in ZCS. Hardt is endorsed by Parents for Accountable Schools, a group formed to promote accountability and transparency in the ZCS Board of Trustees, and Senator Mike Braun.

Learn more about Hardt at https://www.hardt4zcs.com.

Union Township

One position is available.

Michael Coussens

Michael Coussens was first elected to the board in 2018 and is the current board vice president. He has also been involved with ZCS through various volunteer positions, including president of the Union Elementary School Dads Club, volunteer for the Humane Society for Boone County and a member of the ZCHS Marching Eagles pit crew. He is currently the director of development and chief engineer at Peerless Pump Company, according to his LinkedIn page. His platform focuses on creating a supportive school environment, supporting safety by partnering with the local police and continuing to work on the financial plan for the district. Coussens has four children, two of which graduated from ZCS and two attending high school.

Learn more about Coussens at https://www.coussensforzcs.com.

Marcus Such

Marcus Such is a senior actuary and vice president at Everside Health, according to his LinkedIn page. In his platform, Such is focused on promoting more dialogue between the schools and parents, continuing to work with local law enforcement to promote safety and security within the schools, and attempting to leave partisan politics out of decisions regarding curriculum. He has two kids, one of which is in ZCS and the other is not yet school-age. Such is endorsed by Parents for Accountable Schools, a group formed to promote accountability and transparency in the Zionsville school board.

Learn more about Such at https://www.suchforschoolboard.com.

Jennifer Valentine

Jennifer Valentine has been working for the past few years in a position she created herself, providing motivation to clients on a freelance basis. Some school board topics Valentine addresses on her website are addressing topics such as SEL and DEI in schools and allowing the people educated in curriculum development to create academic plans. She has two kids who graduated from ZCS and two currently attending middle school in the school corporation.

Learn more about Valentine at https://www.valentine4zcs.com.

Early in-person voting has already begun in Indiana and will end on Nov. 7 at noon. Contact your County Clerk’s office to find locations and hours for early voting and for in-person voting on Nov. 8.

Voters can also vote absentee but need to request a ballot no later than Oct. 27, or 12 days before the general election on Nov. 8.

To request an absentee ballot, you must meet the requirements, which can be found online at in.gov/sos/elections/voter-information/ways-to-vote. You can request online or by mailing or hand-delivering the application to your county election board or the Indiana Election Division. You also can email the application to elections@iec.in.gov.

Once received, you should mail the ballot back to your local county election office. Ballots must be received by election officials by 6 p.m. on Election Day, or it will not be processed.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Elections 2022: Zionsville Community Schools school board candidates