Candidate for
Board Member; Antioch Unified School District

Walter Ruehlig began his dedication to public service teaching English to 510 middle school students as a Peace Corps volunteer in a remote Turkish village without electricity.

Forty years later, he continues his quest for universal brotherhood leveling the playing field through education and trumpeting special passions for diversity and youth mentoring.

Walter, a lifetime educator, works with the disabled through the California Department of Rehabilitation. He is a five-time foster parent and sponsored an East Indian child through middle/high school and a Filipino polio victim through law school. He mentored for the Boy Scouts, Little League, PTA, Job Corps and was Chief Counselor for St. John Bosco Circle - Columbian Squires of Antioch, a four-time international service award winner of the Brother Barnabas Award.

As Human Relations Commissioner for Contra Costa County, Walter organized the city of Antioch's first `Season for Non-Violence' Peace March in 2001 commemorating the 50th and 30th death anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Representatives from nine faiths joined in the interfaith candle-lighting witnessed by over 150 citizens.

As Antioch's representative to the Library Commission, he is a staunch supporter of literacy and reading. He is especially passionate in promoting the Swedish invention Bokomaten, the first and, currently, only book vending machine installed in the country located at the Bay Point BART station.

In 2004 the clamor for change in the Antioch Unified School District prompted Walter to run for the Board of Trustees. Winning in a landslide victory, he is currently the President of the Board and credited for assisting the District in its many successes. His effort to provide the best education for the children of Antioch by adopting best practices has resulted in:

• FISCAL SOLVENCY - District is off the county fiscal watch list, earned highest bond rating and positive certification with 4% reserves, restored music program.

• IMPROVED ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE - Increase in API scores, Carmen Dragon & Kimball Elementary Schools earning CA Schools of Excellence recognition.

• ALTERNATIVE CAREER OPTIONS - Opened medical magnet high school, Performing Arts Academy, 2nd charter school and scheduled opening of Law & Criminal Justice Academy.

• IMPROVED SAFETY AND DISCIPLINE - Introduced closed campus, uniforms, photo lanyards and guidance counselors, adopted zero tolerance and the two-principal model for Deer Valley High School.

To date, it has generated an estimated $13,000 for music program instrument repairs, $7,000 for community partners serving children and received donations of usable instruments including six pianos for Antioch and East Contra Costa County public schools.

For more information, e-mail Walter.