2011-2013 Gunn HS Site Council Parent Representatives

Submitted by Renee Hart

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
VOTE TODAY
For Your 2011-2013 Gunn HS Site Council Parent Representatives
We are pleased to present the following slate of parent-candidates for the 2011-2012 Site Council. Each year, two of the four parent representatives serving on Site Council come up for re-election. According to Site Council bylaws, incumbent representatives can only serve two consecutive terms (four years). This year, Linda Lingg is up for re-election and Mike Needels will retire his seat, following four years of distinguished service to Gunn’s Site Council. Thanks to Linda Lingg and Mike Needels who have graciously offered their services to our community.
Please vote for TWO (2) candidates and either fax, mail or email it to the Site Council office here at Gunn by the Tuesday, April 5 deadline. Please email your E-ballot to: rhart@pausd.org. Please include your Gunn student's name and grade on your e-ballot. NOTE: YOU MUST HAVE A STUDENT ATTENDING GUNN THIS YEAR TO VOTE. ONLY ONE BALLOT PER HOUSEHOLD ACCEPTED. The ballot must be in the office by April 5.
If you have any questions about the election process or the Site Council, please call the office (650.849.7932) or email to the address given above. Election results will be announced in next month’s on the Gunn Connection. VOTE NOW!!!

 BECKY THOMAS, Parent of Madison Thomas (9th grade) and Dylan Thomas an incoming Freshman from Terman
I would like to offer my experience and serve on the Gunn Site Council next year. I have worked in the classroom, driven on field trips, and helped at social events for many years. Our family is committed to supporting the community and schools in various charitable ways. I believe that it takes all viewpoints to understand the impact of decisions in our schools. I want to continue to serve and offer the value of my experience.
I am currently a Terman Site Council parent representative. I was Terman Middle School's PTA President 2009-2010. I was Barron Park Elementary School's PTA President 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. I was Livsey Elementary School's PTA President 2004-2005 (in Atlanta, GA). I've held other various PTA officer positions. I volunteer at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. I volunteer as a Barron Park Donkey Handler.

 GEOFF BUTNER, Parent of Torey (10th grade)
I am interested in joining the Gunn Site Council for the upcoming 2 year term. I have a daughter, Torey Butner, that is currently a Sophomore at Gunn. I am a very active and involved parent as I am in my second year on Site Council at JLS working closely with Sharon Ofek and prior to that was on Site Council at Palo Verde Elementary School during the transition from Eric Goddard to Lupe Garcia. I have also been a member of the PTA since my kids entered the Palo Alto School system. I have 5 children, of which Torey is the oldest with my youngest currently in Kindergarten. I have a background in finance and am currently employed by Square 1 Bank where I run a portion of the credit and risk management groups making daily decisions on providing capital to venture capital start ups.

 AZEEZ CHOLLAMPAT, Parent of Nabeel (9th grade) and Nilofer (12th grade) I am Program Manager at Qualcomm for WLAN Chipsets, managing a team for the WLAN group in Qualcomm to build silicon and systems that goes into hand-held devices. Previously I was running my own corporations, N Square Corporation and Tea-Time. I had ample experience in running a large team and making strategic decisions in group settings. I also have financial management experience through this company and in the current position. I am currently pursuing the Stanford Advanced Project Management Certification. I have attended and graduated "Leadership Santa Clara 2007," sponsored by the City of Santa Clara in 2007 for 6 months. I am the current Treasurer of MANCA (Malayalee Association of Northern California, an Indian community association).

 SHANTHI KARAMCHETI, Parent of Siddharth Karamcheti (9th grade)
I am interested in applying for the site council representative position. As a mother to a freshmen student, I have been searching for opportunities to get involved in the school and I find that this may be an area where I can use my experience and expertise to benefit the school while also getting to learn more about my child's school. I think I can be of benefit to this committee. In particular, my volunteer experience in my son's past school (where my daughters continue to be at present) as a Strategic Vision Committee member will be very useful. As a member of the Programs Committee, I was responsible for proposing various programs to benefit the school. Some of the programs that I am responsible for include: Middle School Initiative, Psychosocial Program (hiring of a full time school counselor to work with teachers/students and parents), Mandarin in the classrooms, a state of the art Media Center, School intramural program as well as Project Based Learning in the classrooms. As a member of the committee, it was not enough for us to just propose these programs, but to also research the feasibility of these programs. Many of these programs have been currently implemented as well.

Currently, I am a program manager with Edgewood Center for Children and Families. I manage the Differential Repose Program which is a division of Human Services Agency/Child Protective Services (CPS), child abuse and neglect unit in San Mateo. I am also a privately practicing psychotherapist. As a therapist and social worker, I have innumerable years of experience working in and within the educational system. I understand families, children and systems very well. I look forward to hearing from the committee.

 LINDA LINGG, Parent of Chris Bennett (10th grade) and Joe Bennett (12th grade)
My name is Linda Lingg and I am running for re-election to a Parent Representative seat on the Gunn Site Council where my sons, Joe Bennett (Grade 12) and Chris Bennett (Grade 10) are students. Currently, I serve as the Chair for the Parent Reps and as Site Council-PTSA Liaison. Previously at Gunn, I have been PTSA Historian and participated in the Assessment Focus Group of Gunn’s accreditation process with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
I am committed to helping all of our children receive the best education we can give them taking into account their unique gifts, talents, interests, learning styles, maturity levels and post-secondary goals. Through Site Council, I continue to push for self-examination and open discussion of all aspects of Gunn’s culture, academics and administration and to keep communication with the school district and school board transparent and active.
In the past, I have had the honor to serve on Site Council at Barron Park Elementary School for one year and at Terman Middle School for four years with three as the Chair. Other relevant volunteer experiences include five PAUSD district committees, PTA executive board positions at Barron Park and Terman Middle schools, Barron Park Elementary representative on the All School’s Fund board (pre-PiE), and creation of a mentoring program for middle school girls interested in science and engineering in conjunction with St. Elizabeth Seton School and the AAUW.

 MONICA MALAMUD, Parent of Kevin Makowski (8th grade) and Nico Makowski (10th grade)
While my sons were at Escondido, I volunteered weekly in their classrooms and I was a member of the Site Council for two terms (2002-2006). At Jordan, I was the alternate representative to the Superintendent’s AAAG (Attendance Area Advisory Group) in 2006 and I was a member of the Site Council in 2008-2010, serving as co-chair in the last year. I served as president of SIPAPA in 2002-2003 and 2004-2005.
I have always worked in education. I have taught Computer Science courses and Spanish at different universities in Argentina, Michigan, Massachusetts and the Bay Area. Since 2000, I have been teaching Spanish full-time at a community college. In my current position, in addition to my primary role as an educator, I have occupied a number of leadership positions: Academic Senate Governing Council (7 years so far, currently Secretary), College Council (5 years, including two years as chair), Planning and Budget (4 years), Strategic Planning and Educational Master Plan Steering Committees (3 years), Faculty Union Executive Committee (6 years so far, currently in 3rd year as President). In addition to teaching college level full-time, I worked as a substitute teacher in PAUSD (I substituted from Kinder to high school).
In summary, my experience in education includes teaching kindergarten through college as well as representing parents and colleagues in governance and decision-making bodies. I am used to considering multiple points of view, competing interests and finite resources, and working together to accomplish successful outcomes. If I have the opportunity to serve on the Site Council, I believe that my broad experience in education and leadership roles will allow me to make a valuable contribution to Gunn’s community.

 PREETI SHRIKHANDE, Parent of Aditya Srinivasan (9th grade)
Personal Background:
I have 2 sons. The older one graduated from Gunn last year and the younger one is a freshman this year. All these years I volunteered in various activities in the schools as room mom, math Olympiad teacher, science teacher helper and various single day activities like field trips, international festivals, etc. but was never able to take on a significant role due to my work and other commitments. I was always in awe of other parents who took up significant roles in the PTA and other critical organizations and provided so much support and help for our students. Now I have taken a few years off from work so am very keen on taking on a larger commitment to the school our community.
Technical Background:
I have graduate degrees in Computer Science and Statistics and I have worked in software organizations for over 25 years.For the last 7 years I have worked as an Operational Excellence Specialist. In that role I had to identify and seek improvements to processes, products and people for large cross functional teams in companies like eBay, Paypal & Sun. Every day I was involved with a large variety of decisions from basic to executive level. All these decisions had to be coordinated and evaluated with data and opinions from several groups & people and had to be done in a very collaborative manner.


BALLOT FOR 2011-2013 SITE COUNCIL PARENT REPRESENTATIVES
Vote for 2 candidates either on paper or electronically
NO LATER THAN APRIL 1.
Voters must have a student now at Gunn.
One ballot per household, please.




BECKY THOMAS
GEOFF BUTNER
LINDA LINGG
AZEEZ CHOLLAMPAT
MONICA MALAMUD
SHANTHI KARAMCHETI
PREETI SHRIKHANDE

Your Gunn Student’s

Name:_________________________________ Grade:_________



Mail to Gunn HS Site Council:
780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Fax to Gunn HS Site Council : 650.493.7801
Or Email to: Renee Hart