BOONE, Iowa—At this time of the year, we historically would have information about those candidates seeking to be elected to local school boards, including the Boone, Madrid, Ogden and United School Boards. But those September elections will now be held in November, combined with the already scheduled municipal elections. Several candidates have sent out press releases about their intent to seek election to municipal office. Today, the first candidate seeking election to the Boone School Board has officially announced his intent.
Joey Weber has announced his candidacy for the Boone Community School Board. While raised in Boone most of his life, he looks forward to bringing his experiences from travels around the world to help provide the needed resources to students and teachers alike if elected this November.
“Every child deserves a quality education and the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century world”, says Weber. “It could be anything from computer programming to welding, both are quality jobs and both build the world we live in.”
His immediate goals when elected would be to build more effective communication between the school system and families, more local community partnerships while also boosting district staff morale.
“Like many parents with kids in the district, I sometimes have felt alone and discouraged by policies or procedures in our school system that haven’t made sense to my family. My wife and I got involved, we talked to the district staff and educators and while many questions were answered, I believe more can be done and am stepping up to help lead that effort. “says Weber.
The Top 5 long-term initiatives Joey would make a priority in his term:
1. District support for parents of children with needs: (ADHD, dyslexia, anger, and more) by offering them more resources in the district through transition and the IEP process.
2. Better support of our teachers; encouraging them, validating their concerns, and having a personal school board presence in all our schools.
3. School Resource Officer for the School District in partnership with the Boone Police Department. Ensuring the safety of all our students and staff is top priority.
4. Hiring a new superintendent that is not just qualified, but wanted by staff at all education levels and the community.
5. A new combined elementary school. Our current elementary schools are hitting 100 and 50 years old with unsustainable maintenance costs to taxpayers. They do not fit 21st Century flexible education needs and campus security. A new building would also be more ADA accessible to all students and families.
Joey is passionate about helping his community as can be seen through his volunteer work and past community service. He has recently served on the Boone YMCA advisory board for the past two years, has been an active participant on the Boone elementary school’s PTO, helped coach soccer for the Boone Soccer Club for five years, has also been instrumental in coordinating events like the Rock the Block this August and the Community Trunk or Treat in October. He sees the importance of connecting businesses and no-profits in the community to help create fun family events and increase communication. Joey has been on mission trips to Poland, Puerto Rico and Haiti, helping to serve the world and to help people of all ages.
Weber is a 2000 Boone High School graduate and has been married to his wife Andrea for 14 years. They have two sons who are students at Franklin Elementary and the Boone Middle School. Currently he is serving as the Associate Pastor at Stonebridge Church here in Boone where his main job responsibilities are community engagement, community service and outreach. Before that, Joey worked as the Youth Pastor at the First Evangelical Free Church of Boone. He saw the need to work with youths early on in his ministry in order to invest in the future of our community and the next generation of leaders.
“So much has changed in how education is delivered since I was a student in Boone,” he said. “There is a lot of pressure on educators to always deliver better testing results — often with fewer resources, but it doesn’t matter if we are educators or elected school board officials. We are all working towards the same goal, to provide our kids the crucial skills and education needed for the rest of their lives. “
Joey’s campaign page can be found on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/WinWithWeber/
He can also be reached at: josephpweber2@gmail.com and his cell: 515.230.3342
Joey Weber is seeking election to the Boone School Board. Weber is pictured with his wife Andrea and their two sons.
