Melissa Ewing
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Melissa Ewing is an at-large member of the Peoria Unified School District in Arizona. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.
Ewing ran for election for an at-large seat of the Peoria Unified School District in Arizona. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Ewing completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Melissa Ewing was born in Flossmoor, Illinois. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Indiana University in 1992. She also earned an M.A. in educational counseling from the University of Phoenix in 2005 and an M.S. in marriage, family, and child therapy from the same university in 2009. Her career experience includes working as an educator and a counselor. She has been affiliated with Peoria School District and ESI.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Peoria Unified School District, Arizona, elections (2022)
General election
General election for Peoria Unified School District, At-large (2 seats)
Heather Rooks and Melissa Ewing defeated Devon Updegraff-Day in the general election for Peoria Unified School District, At-large on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Heather Rooks (Nonpartisan)  | 36.4 | 42,442 |
| ✔ |  | Melissa Ewing (Nonpartisan) | 32.9 | 38,324 |
| Devon Updegraff-Day (Nonpartisan) | 30.2 | 35,223 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 579 | ||
| Total votes: 116,568 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
To view Ewing's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Melissa Ewing completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ewing's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My name is Melissa Ewing, and I am running for Peoria School Board to advocate for quality education for all students, and to ensure our district excels in academic excellence. I have spent 15 years as a school and community volunteer in youth programs and school support organizations, and another 6 years as a substitute teacher with the mission of providing youth and students with excellent learning and leadership opportunities. As a parent, educator, counselor, school and community volunteer, my commitment is and has always been to students and schools to ensure that they have the resources and support for academic excellence. My primary focus will be making decisions based on the best academic interest of the students. Collaborating with all students, parents, teachers, and support staff to identify needs, available resources and best educational practices. I will support policies, procedures, curriculum, and teaching models that leverage best practices for academic success of all students. I commit to building and strengthening positive relationships with students, staff, parents, and community which is vital for the success of our neighborhood schools. Every child in our district deserves a great education in a safe and happy environment. Please Vote for Melissa Ewing and Only Melissa Ewing for Peoria Unified School Board.
- Student-centered: My primary focus will be making decisions based on what is in the best academic interest of the students that is data driven and based on best practices in education and learning. This includes providing a positive learning environment that encourages creativity and growth in learning and is adequately resourced, so students have optimal environment that promotes academic success.
- Advocate for Excellence in Staffing: My second focus will be advocating for highly trained staff and adequate resources to optimize academic goals for students, teachers and school excellence. We
- Lead by Collaboration: I am committed to listening and seeking out the needs of all students, parents, and staff in our district. Involving stakeholders in problem-solving and decision-making to promote trust and transparency with a shared goal of student academic success. Building positive working relationships with students, staff, families and communities is how we make our community schools a success.
1.Government funding for education. I believe investing in education and fully funding our public schools and special education programs is necessary for the success of not only our students but also our communities. I will continue to work with legislators and community leaders advocating for the financial needs and support of the local schools
2.School Safety. I believe students have the right to feel safe in their classrooms and parents deserve piece of mind that their children are protected at the school and in their communities. I believe schools must have a robust, comprehensive safety plan that involves coordination of community resources and emergency service providers to prevent, mitigate and handle risks.
My father, mother and my grandparents. Each one of them persevered to achieve higher education. My parents were married and had two young children while pursuing and obtaining college degrees, my father later a PHD in Biology. My mother’s father received his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the support of his family who sold their family farm to send all their children to college. My father’s father received a bachelor’s in science in Engineering. My family has instilled in me that importance of education for success.
I am expertly trained in active listening and collaborating with all involved stakeholders to problem solve and find working solutions. My goal is to understand and validate the individual concerns and work toward a common ground when finding answers.
The mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, and the many other school shootings that followed is tragic and impactful events for me and our school age children. Disaster preparation has changed, hiding underneath tables in case of a tornado, contrasted against students hiding in corners of rooms preparing for an active shooter is a stark change and unfortunate reality. Schools across the country have fundamentality had to change their safety plans and policies to be more comprehensive when it comes to violence prevention in schools, this includes providing mental health resources or referrals, supportive environments, strong relationships and crisis intervention and de-escalation. I understand that as a school board member, we need to be constantly vigilant to new risks to our schools and use best practices that include involving community first responders to keep our kids safe.
I was very active in our soccer community. I was one of only two girls, my sister being the other, who played soccer on an all-boys club soccer team. Because of this I was asked to be a part of developing and promoting a girls soccer program in Bloomington, Indiana. My first jobs included coaching and refereeing Girls Club Soccer. I understood my role was not just to teach the girls the skills of the game, but also to instill a love of soccer and provide a mentor role in their soccer development. I was tasked with partnering with the Women’s Soccer program at Indiana University to provide a pipeline of players and to promote the success of the women's university program. This is where I found my love of teaching and leading youth programs. I understood as a young adult that our soccer program could not be successful without the involvement and positive relationships with parents and community.
The governing board sets the vision and mission for the district through involvement of staff and community by using collaboration to establish strategic goals and continually monitoring progress towards those goals. Board members create and approve board policies and goals ensuring all students are served, and comply with federal, state and district regulations. The superintendent is responsible for carrying out policy. Board members primary responsibility is to evaluate and hire a competent superintendent. A board member is also responsible for approving, monitoring the budget, setting salaries, approving purchases and ensuring our students have the materials and learning spaces they need and deserve. I am committed to building on the reputation of fiscal integrity, transparency and management that has established PUSD as an award-wining leader. We must be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars and be knowledgeable of the laws regarding school finance. I take that responsibility very seriously. I am committed to ensuring that decisions are based on greatest needs and are aligned with district goals. Lastly, the board is responsible for approving curriculum materials. Curriculum decisions should be data driven, based on the use of best materials and practices of the industry, and innovative design that is flexible for all learners.
School board members have each been duly elected by the citizens of their respective school districts. They have been selected to represent their voters and give voice to the electorate of their district. School board members should represent the best interests of students, parents, and families. That means listening to their constituents and openly communicating with the public they serve. They have been selected to represent their voters and give voice to the electorate of their district. I commit that I will work on behalf of all my constituents with the shared goal of academic success.
A school board member needs to be aware of not only the needs of the district as a whole, but also the individual schools and community. The challenge of the district is to provide for the needs of all of the schools equitably so all students in the district thrive. The school board is tasked with working extensively and collaboratively with student, staff, and community to establish strategic goals in working toward the community’s vision for its schools and involving all stakeholders in the process. In Peoria school district we have declining enrollment in our southern, schools, with overcrowded classrooms in our northern district with a need to build a new high school. The board has a responsibility to ensure schools are in good working condition conducive to learning. The board must communicate to the families, community members, and legislators the financial needs of the district and challenges in meeting demands for a new school, financially. I understand the importance of supporting schools for our kids and our community to triumph and excel and will work to foster positive, working and collaborative relationship. I commit to using our district resources to service the needs of all of our students, faculty, staff and community.
Forming partnerships and positive working relationships with local organizations and community leaders to support student and school excellence can only benefit the individual students' academic success. Sometimes it’s just a matter of asking the community how and what they can do to support their local schools, and providing that coordination of efforts. I understand that the needs of each school are complex and vary from site to site and know by working together and collaborating on community resources, our kids benefit. Now that schools can welcome back in community members, it's important to be inviting the community to attend events where students, clubs and schools can showcase their skills, talents and performance. Asking community members to take part in events sponsored by the schools, volunteering for the schools, even inviting professionals in their fields to be guest speakers to deepen students understanding of materials. Lastly communicating with the community about the opportunities, awards, and achievements of our students and our schools to showcase the positive impacts those students are having in improving the local communities.
Diversifying staff is an important step in creating a sense of community for families and students. School staff are often role models to the students, and its important students see themselves in those around them. Staff members who can understand and have a shared experience with the students can bridge the gap between family and school expectations. Schools should be a place where students find belonging and acceptance. The district can prioritize hiring staff living in the community’s surrounding schools and prioritize forming partnerships with local organizations to encourage school-community connection and recruitment for local school positions. Lastly, forming partnerships with strong community leaders can forge strong relationships with families and students. Students who feel connected to their teachers and schools do better academically.
Many families are facing difficulties meeting basic needs such as food, shelter and transportation insecurities. We need to partner with our community organizations to offer stability services to these families so students can be successful in the classroom. The district needs to have solutions for families when it cannot offer transportation due to staffing shortages. Right now, the district is not only facing transportation shortages but staffing across all positions. This puts quality of education at risk. Fixing the classroom environment would go a long way in improving quality education. 1. Properly staffing our schools. We have a severe shortage of teachers and paraprofessionals which has created very difficult environments for learning, overcrowded classrooms and not enough staff to provide individual attention 2. Supporting our staff and educators – our school staff who don’t have adequate mentoring and support from school leaders who themselves are overburdened in schools. Giving more flexibility amongst schools and teacher groups to choose best practice approaches to overcome barriers to student success. 3. Compensating our teachers and staff and offering financial rewards and professional opportunities for high teacher-evaluation will go a long way to ensuring students get a quality education.
First, positive relationships between students and staff should be emphasized. Research shows students are more academically successful in environments they feel connected. Once there’s a positive relationship, next is a safe and happy learning environment. Once these are established utilizing teaching practices that reach all learners is important. Determining effective teachers requires much more than measuring student achievement in test scores against teaching methods, it must consider the quality of the student-teacher relationship which is more difficult to quantify.
There was an overhaul of the teacher evaluation process that did not yield increase in student test scores or educational attainment. The overhaul did not include the focus and importance of building relationships with students and the consideration of the learning environment. Students learn in positive supportive classrooms where they have positive relationships with both teachers and staff. Simply putting all the focus on student growth, and academic achievement without fostering the learning relationship between the student and teacher will not achieve results. Good teaching must involve first connecting with the students, fostering the relationship of learning and then teaching the material in ways that reach all learners. Lastly, there must be financial opportunities, and professional development opportunities put in place for teachers to be rewarded for their high achievement.
There was an overhaul of the teacher evaluation process that did not yield increase in student test scores or educational attainment. The overhaul did not include the focus and importance of building relationships with students and the consideration of the learning environment. Students learn in positive supportive classrooms where they have positive relationships with both teachers and staff. Simply putting all the focus on student growth, and academic achievement without fostering the learning relationship between the student and teacher will not achieve results. Good teaching must involve first connecting with the students, fostering the relationship of learning and then teaching the material in ways that reach all learners. Lastly, there must be financial opportunities, and professional development opportunities put in place for teachers to be rewarded for their high achievement.
One of the core goals of the district is to make sure our students have the basic knowledge as required by the state standards but also to make sure they are prepared for their future. Peoria offers Choice Programs such as the Apache Gifted Academy, Fine Arts Academy, International Baccalaureate, MET Professional Academy and dual enrollment courses. These programs can prepare our students for career or education beyond high school. These programs continue to attract students to public schools, and graduate skilled students into the workforce. I would like to see more expanded curriculum for middle schools that is focused on their learning style. I would like to see a greater diversity of academic opportunities in middle school (6-8th grade) that promote creativity, involvement, and excellence in academics and allow students to specialize their interests.
A school board member should be regularly talking with their local legislators discussing the needs of the schools, advocating for support of public schools, and offering insights and solutions to current school challenges. Communicating to the public about components of school finance to include their current challenges is also important in educating the school families and communities on concerns. I will advocate for the legislators to fully fund education.
Safety of all students and staff are a priority for every board member. Every child deserves to be in a school where they feel safe. Every parent deserves to feel confident about the safety of the school for their children. Every staff member deserves to work in a workplace that is safe, positive, and supportive, Vigilance to any new threats that arise, and frequent re-evaluation of comprehensive safety plan is necessary to ensure the safety of all individuals who are in the schools.
Students who have a mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life areas are protected under Section 504 and thus the school must provide for accommodations. Many mental health conditions get in the way of students participating at school and thus qualify for a 504plan or outline accommodations. Not every student who walks into a classroom is "ready to learn". Many children face disparities in meeting basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing that can create mental health challenges. Schools can become safety networks for these families and students so there is equal opportunity for success of each student. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and support staff should be trained on how to assess students for mental health needs, especially when it is impacting the success of the student academically. The schools can help coordinate and refer students to appropriate resources with a shared goal of academic success. Schools have a responsibility to have at least one trained therapist to help in a crisis situation, similarly to the importance of having a nurse on staff.
Technology is one type of learning platform and will continue to become more innovative with time and advancements. However, even the most innovative technology cannot replace the importance of positive teacher student relationships in the classroom. During the pandemic when all schooling was online, research said that students felt disconnected and disengaged and it negatively affected their ability to learn and have academic success. Technology has its advantages, as it can tailor academic programming to the individual student knowledge and abilities, it still cannot provide that positive relationship that encourages students to be curious in learning and persevere through difficulties.
Technology outside the classroom can provide for a "social" opportunity, but it cannot replace the basic need for human interaction and connection. Social media platforms can provide a false sense of reality for students who may have difficulty differentiating online versus reality.
Technology outside the classroom can provide for a "social" opportunity, but it cannot replace the basic need for human interaction and connection. Social media platforms can provide a false sense of reality for students who may have difficulty differentiating online versus reality.
One of the negative effects of the pandemic is the broken relationships with family and community. The schools have an opportunity now to be inviting parents and community back into our schools. We must be focused on building positive relationships, which in turn will improve student connection to our schools, thus promote academic success. Teachers can ask for parental involvement with student academic evaluation, guest speakers and support roles in the classroom. Schools can invite families to take part in school events, as the schools can be the heart of the community. Another key component to building and fostering positive relationships is a good communication plan, that takes into account the various communication methods each parent utilizes, i.e. phone, text, or email. Having robust communication platforms to market academic programs, accomplishments of students, clubs, sports programs, staff and school. Lastly, holding town halls and partnering with parent groups when larger community issues arise. These partnerships can lend an opportunity to hear all voices with regards to an issue so the board can make an informed decision.
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
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 11, 2022
