Leah Olson

Ballotpedia does not currently cover this office or maintain this page. Please contact us with any updates.

Leah Olson

Prior offices

Appleton Area School District Board of Education At-large

---

Report an officeholder change

Education

High school

Appleton North High School

Bachelor's

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Personal

Profession

Acupuncturist

Contact

Personal website

Leah Olson was a member of the Appleton Area School District Board of Education At-large in Wisconsin. She assumed office in 2017. She left office in 2020.

Olson ran for re-election to the Appleton Area School District Board of Education At-large in Wisconsin. She won in the general election on April 3, 2018.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Olson received a bachelor's degree in Latin American and Iberian studies from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Her professional experience includes working as an acupuncturist at her clinic, Whole Family Health. Olson has been associated with the Edison Elementary PTA.

Elections

2018

See also: Appleton Area School District elections (2018)

Two of the seven seats on the Appleton Area School District Board of Education in Wisconsin were up for at-large general election on April 3, 2018. Incumbents Kay Eggert and Leah Olson defeated challenger Brian Farmer.

General election

General election for Appleton Area School District Board of Education At-large (2 seats)

Incumbent Leah Olson and incumbent Kay Eggert defeated Brian Farmer in the general election for Appleton Area School District Board of Education At-large on April 3, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Leah Olson (Nonpartisan)	41.6	7,667
✔		Kay Eggert (Nonpartisan)	38.9	7,159
		Brian Farmer (Nonpartisan)	19.0	3,495
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	98

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,419
= 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.

Campaign themes

2018

Post Crescent Survey

Olson participated in the following survey conducted by the Post Crescent. The questions provided by the Post Crescent are bolded, and Olson's responses follow below.

“	Why are you running for office? I became interested in the AASD School Board after serving on the PTA Board at Edison Elementary for several years. I was inspired by the commitment to public service of previous school board members, including Sharon Fenlon and Dr. John Mielke. When Dr. Mielke retired in June 2017, I applied for his position. In an open meeting, the board interviewed nine candidates, and I feel fortunate to have been selected. As a parent with young children who attend schools in our district, I feel I bring a unique perspective to the board. I’ve enjoyed the work so far and hope to continue. Government experience: Appleton Area School District Board of Education July 2017-present. What do you think are the key issues facing the community? The school board is fortunate. Our community supports strong public schools (witness the school referendums passed in 2014 and earlier). With the support of this community, I look forward to three opportunities. 1) Closing opportunity gaps. This initiative calls for strong partnerships among parents, students and teachers. An impressive model I observed is the Academic Parent Teacher Teams at Lincoln Elementary. All students benefit from this program. 2) Better access to mental health care. It is hard for a student to succeed in school if she is struggling with a mental health issue. The PATH program expanded to include students in all of our middle and high schools. Sources of Strength, a high school suicide prevention program, shows great progress. We plan to add additional social workers thanks to matching funds available in the most recent state budget. 3) Classroom to Career. Students are more engaged in their learning when they see a connection between the classroom and their future. Classroom to Career can provide this connection because of strong partnerships with dedicated business leaders throughout the Fox Valley. Our goal is that every student will graduate with a post-secondary academic and career plan and real-world exposure to their area of career interest. What do you hope to accomplish, if elected? As a board member, I will do everything I can to enable our principals and teachers to prepare 16,000 students for their future — every child, every day. That means promoting a culture of high expectations for every member of our school community. At the same time, I will continue the district’s tradition of fiscal responsibility. Success will be achieved when: 1) Every child feels safe, welcome and included in school academic and co-curricular activities. 2) All parents with a child in our district realize that they are an important part of their child’s academic success and are an equal education partner with their child’s teacher. 3) Every student graduates ready for college, a career and life. Those are big goals, but our students deserve nothing less.	”
—Leah Olson, 2018

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Leah Olson Appleton Area School District school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Leah Olson - Google News

See also

• Appleton Area School District, Wisconsin
• Appleton Area School District elections (2018)

External links

Suggest a link