Benjamin Woodward

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Benjamin Woodward

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Associate

Utah Valley University, 2012

Other

Salt Lake Community College, 2013

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army National Guard

Years of service

2013 - 2021

Personal

Profession

Engineer

Contact

Campaign Facebook

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Benjamin Woodward (also known as Ben) ran for election to the Nebo School District to represent District 4 in Utah. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Woodward completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Benjamin Woodward's professional experience includes working as an engineer. Woodward served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 2013 to 2021. He earned an associate degree from Utah Valley University in 2012 and a degree from Salt Lake Community College in 2013.

Elections

2022

See also: Nebo School District, Utah, elections (2022)

General election

General election for Nebo School District, District 4

Incumbent Rick B. Ainge defeated Benjamin Woodward in the general election for Nebo School District, District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rick B. Ainge (Nonpartisan)	64.4	4,931
		Benjamin Woodward (Nonpartisan)	35.6	2,721

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,652
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Nebo School District, District 4

Incumbent Rick B. Ainge and Benjamin Woodward defeated Alan Hansen in the primary for Nebo School District, District 4 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rick B. Ainge (Nonpartisan)	55.0	2,171
✔		Benjamin Woodward (Nonpartisan)	30.1	1,187
	Submit photo	Alan Hansen (Nonpartisan)	15.0	591

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,949
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jason Davis (Nonpartisan)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Benjamin Woodward completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Woodward's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm Ben Woodward. I have a passion for the truth. I served 8 years in the Utah Army National Guard. I'm a husband and father. I've 2 little girls who sparked my fire and desire to try and make our school district better. I consider myself an Objectivist, meaning I strive to align my life with Objective Reality. And I strive to live by what's right, not who's right. By day, I'm an engineering technician. I have an Associate in Science from Utah Valley University with several professional certificates ranging from automotive technologies, to machining, to CAD design, to quality systems.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Parents hold the primary responsibility in educating their children.
• Transparency in government is paramount to freedom.
• Quality of education should be the School District's main concern.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Exercising fiscal responsibility. Eliminating waste. Increasing the proficiency rates in math, science, and language arts. And Improving security protocols and overall student safety.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

One of my all time favorite hero's/role models is General George S Patton.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, true passion for service, being a truth seeker.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Being a true and honest representative of the people. Recognizing that it's okay to reply with, "I'm not sure, let me look into it and get back to you." And then making damn sure you keep to your word.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

According to Utah Code 53G-4-401(5): an elected member of a local school board serves and represents the residents of the local school board member's district.

And according to the Nebo School District Policy BB - Board Organization and Authority, "The Board is responsible for the establishment of policy to direct or guide administrative action."

In my view, I'm a representative of the people first, with a responsibility to create policy and guide the school district.

Who are your constituents?

My constituents are the parents and patrons of District 4, which includes Salem, Woodland Hills, Elk Ridge, Lake Shore, Benjamin, a section of West mountain, and a section of Spanish Fork.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

By actively listening and doing what I can to make sure those under my care have the resources, information, or contacts that they require.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

As the position is an unaffiliated position, as long as the group, organization, or stakeholder holds the education of students and the rights of the parents as sacred, everybody is invited to the table of ideas.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

No. I believe in recruiting based on merit. Picking the people who are best suited for the job regardless of skin color, creed, or culture.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

Funding is big one. Too much focus on non-academics is another one. We need to get back to the basics and focus on core academics if we're to increase the quality of education.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Subject proficiency scores are the best metric to measure good teaching. Good teachers can engage students. If students demonstrate a core understanding of the subject material, that teacher has done their job. We need to reward good teachers, and motivate teachers to be better.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

I'd be supportive of a one time or temporary tax break on families moving into the area to increase our tax base. Increasing the tax base increases base revenue, which would also increase state funds.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

I served in the Utah Army National Guard. Security is a huge priority to me. I'd even be in favor of training and arming teachers if teachers wanted to.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

By making sure they have resources available, whether that's funding, or personnel, or other resources.

What role do you imagine technology playing in (and outside) the classroom in the future? How would you prepare the district for this?

Technology is the future. We need to make sure that our system is identifying technological trends and ensuring our students have the skillset needed to move into those industries upon graduation.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

Right now the Board of Education does the bare minimum as legally required to keep the populace informed. I'd like to take a more active approach and hold online interviews, updates, Q&As, etc., so that I can ensure that my constituents can interact with me and know that I'm actually doing my job.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2022 Elections

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Candidate

Nebo School District, District 4

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