Full Biography for Marilyn E. Rea

Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Santa Clara Unified School District; Trustee Area 2

I was elected to the Santa Clara Unified School Board six years ago. At that time, I was the parent of two students in the district. I had spent eight years as a weekly classroom volunteer at Westwood Open, a parent participation elementary school in our district, served there on the PTA board, and as Chairperson of the Open Parent Board. At the time of my election, my daughters were at Peterson Middle School and Wilcox High School.

My oldest graduated two years ago, and my youngest this past June; both are now away at college. Although I do not now have children in the district, I do still have an active network of contacts formed over the last fifteen years. I continue to work as a volunteer with our schools in my capacity as a professional storyteller.

Since my election to the board, I have not only been active in the district, but at the county and state level as well. I have served for the last six years as my board's representative to the Santa Clara County School Boards' Association, a networking organization of all K-12 districts in the county, and two communtiy college districts as well. I have worked on a number of committees within that organization, and served as vice president and last year as president. Meeting monthly with board members from around the county has been valuable, providing a network of colleagues from beyond my own district from whom I can seek information, input and advice when issues arise.

At the state level, I sit as a member of the Delegate Assembly of the California School Boards Association. I am one of ten delegates from our region/county, (eleven counting our regional member of the board of directors). This body sets policy for the association, which is then used as the foundation for our lobbying efforts in Sacramento and Washington. Through this organization, I have been able to keep current on activity in Washington and Sacramento, and again built a network of contacts from around the state. The Delegate Assembly meets twice a year.

This past Spring I began working at San Jose State University, teaching Storytelling in the Theatre Arts Department. (Although my degree is in Mathematics, my career took a different direction.) I have much enjoyed my new role as a teacher, and feel it enhances my perspective as a board member, particularly because a large percentage of San Jose State students are local residents and graduates of local school systems. Most of my students are planning to become teachers themselves, so while my teaching enhances my role as a board member, what I have learned about education in the last six years enhances my teaching and my ability to prepare my students to go on into their eventual role as teachers.