Candidate for
Governing Board Member; West Covina Unified School District

Ian and his family are lifelong residents of West Covina. Ian proudly graduated from West Covina schools. He attended Merlinda Elementary School, Edgewood Middle School, and West Covina High School. After high school, Ian attended Citrus College where he graduated in 2005 with his Associate of Arts degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences. He transferred to California State University Los Angeles and graduated in 2007 with his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. After college, Ian pursued his law degree and graduated from the Chapman University School of Law in Orange, CA in 2010. Ian sat for and passed the July 2010 California State Bar Exam and is currently a member in good standing with the State Bar. He is also admitted to practice law in the Central District Federal Court and the United States Bankruptcy Court. Ian is also a proud Eagle Scout.

Ian has a long history of volunteering at West Covina Schools and serving our students. Ian's Eagle Scout project rehabilitated a blighted area at Edgewood Middle School and renovated the area with a memorial rose garden dedicated to the memory of a longtime and much beloved Edgewood Middle School teacher. He has also volunteered with the band program at Edgewood Middle School. For several years, between 2001 and 2006, Ian accompanied the 5th grade classes from Orangewood Elementary School to Outdoor Science School at Wrightwood for a week every January. Ian spent that week providing adult supervision for a cabin of boys consisting of students from the several schools at Outdoor Science School that session. He supervised the boys during meal time, meal preparation, ensuring Outdoor Science School and local school rules were followed, and assisted the LACOE and school staff on the trails and during lessons in the Lodge. When Ian was a senior in high school, he served as the Student Board Member on the West Covina Unified Board of Education

Ian is currently serving as the Attorney Coach for the Edgewood High School Mock Trial Team. He instructs the students in proper courtroom etiquette, the formulation of proper direct and cross-examinations, and coaches the students on witness preparation and overall delivery.

Ian is very proud of his involvement in organizing a movement encompassing current students, alumni, community members, and staff in the summer of 2010 to have reinstated to their respective positions two longtime teachers at West Covina High School. These teachers were inexplicably replaced or removed from their assignments with little or no explanation by district staff. After organizing and presenting evidence to the School Board for several months, the supporters of the teachers we able to convince the School Board that there was no rational explanation for the removal of these teachers. As a result of their actions, the Board voted to reinstate the two teachers to their rightful positions.

In addition to being a proud Eagle Scout, Ian was honored as one of fourteen outstanding participants at the 2002 Pepperdine University Youth Citizenship Seminar. Ian is also a past Boys State attendee (2002) and Rotary Youth Leadership Award attendee (2001).

Ian enjoys reading, camping, hiking, spending time with his nephew and niece and volunteering in his community. Ian also serves on the Executive Board of the Chapman University School of Law Alumni Advisory Committee as its Communications Officer.