Rye School Board candidate Allyson Kreycik
Name: Allyson Kreycik
Education: 1998 graduate of T.F. Riggs High School - Pierre, South Dakota. Bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Occupation: Vice president of Mortgage Banking - Guaranteed Rate Inc.
Political or civic experience highlights: Executive board member for the Guaranteed Rate Foundation (2015- present); Rockingham County Child Advocacy board member (2020-present).
What would be your top three priorities if you are elected?: My number one goal would be to help the current School Board members in continuing to support our two schools towards excellence. Too many of our local students are leaving the public schools and seeking private education options, and I believe our public schools are better with them in attendance. Secondly, I also would like to help implement policy and programs to end food insecurity for Rye students. We live in one of the most affluent communities yet have students in our schools who struggle with food insecurity and I believe we can fix it. Lastly, I believe that we should be adding more community support into the schools. We have a wealth of amazingly talented people in our community and we should be drawing from their experiences to help teach our kids about life. For example, as a mortgage lender I think of the importance of teaching our eighth-graders about individual credit, how to qualify for a mortgage, and what housing payments cost. It would be awesome to have a pharmacist go into the middle school science classes and explain how antibiotics work in the body to cure infections. We have financial planners who could teach how interest accrues on investments over time. We have so many people who our students could learn from and bringing the wealth of knowledge our community has into the classrooms would be beneficial.
How should the school district handle requests to remove books from the library or curriculum?: I had the opportunity to sit down with both principals this past week and I asked them if this is an issue that comes up. Both reported that this has not been a huge issue during their tenures. I believe our public education system has a very important purpose - and that is to educate our children and help to prepare them for life. They need to be educated on history, literature, and poetry. They need books to show them about the world, geography, and influential people and events of our past. I am a huge proponent of reading and believe strongly it needs to be a pillar in our schools. If requests come up to remove books from schools I would work along with the other board members, the administration of the schools and use logic and common sense in making that decision. If a book is inappropriate for the public schools, and I believe some are, we should not be assigning them to our students.
Do you support the expansion of education freedom accounts in New Hampshire?: Yes I do. After speaking with our school leaders, I was so incredibly encouraged. Our children are getting first-class educations in this community. While at the Rye Junior High this week meeting with Anne Gilbert, a bus pulled up to take a load of students to the Portsmouth YMCA to test out their aquatic robots that they built. What an experience! Many large schools don't have access to that. Our eighth-graders are heading to Boston to experience the Auschwitz museum that is travelling our country. What an experience! My seventh-grader had a class on taking old clothes and up-cycling them into fashion. What an education. The list goes on and on. Many schools in our country are too big to be able to offer these programs. and I am so grateful our local children are able to have these opportunities. However, I do believe in education freedom. I believe that some students need more specialized educations - ones that are difficult for small public schools to support. I believe parents should have the opportunity to take advantage of that if they feel it is in the best interest of their child.
What else should voters know about your views on local schools and public education?: I am a product of and an for advocate for public schools. I believe in public education for our children and want to help make that even better in Rye. I was educated in public schools in the heartland of South Dakota and I received an education that prepared me for college and life. I believe that public schools help prepare children for life. Public schools take children from every segment of society, and I believe that is important exposure for children as they grow. I also believe that water rises to its own levels and whether a student is educated by a public school or a private one, what they put into their education is what they get out. Our schools in Rye are full of caring and wonderful educators and faculty who strive to meet our children's educational needs daily. I am grateful for that and it would be my privilege to serve our community as a school board member.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Rye School Board candidate Allyson Kreycik