Gibraltar School District Candidates

We initially ran the profiles of the Gibraltar candidates in our Feb. 5, 2021 issue of the Peninsula Pulse. To access them in their entirety, go to www.pulse.comhttps://doorcountypulse.com/8-running-for-gibraltar-school-board/

Carrie Becker, 46, works as the membership manager of Horseshoe Bay Golf Club. This is her first time running for an elective office. She lives in Baileys Harbor with husband, Mike, and is the mother of two and the stepmother of two, with a fifth-grader at Gibraltar and another child starting this fall. 

Peninsula Pulse: What is your primary motivation for running for a Gibraltar School District Board seat?

Carrie Becker: Over the last 10 months, it’s been a struggle to not have a voice in the decisions that have directly affected our family and those families around us. This is why I’ve decided to run for Gibraltar School Board. I feel it’s important to have our children’s needs be the first priority.

PP: Do you agree with how the Gibraltar School District has operated under the pandemic? Please explain specifically what you supported and what you did not, and what you would have done differently.

CB: The struggle that Gibraltar Schools had finding a way back into the classroom this past fall was a frustration for me. I felt they planned well and were able to meet the CDC’s guidelines, Door County Health Department guidance and implemented everything, plus some, when they added extra precautions like the filtration system, but still failed to offer any in-person learning for months.

They had given parents and teachers an option if in-person learning or instruction was not something they wished to risk for their families, which I support. However, I felt they continued to ignore those students that were struggling with the various issues of remote learning, as my

son was. The back-and-forth indecisiveness and refusal to reevaluate the requirements of screen time when in-person wasn’t happening would have been something I pushed to resolve.

Amie Carriere, 40, works as a cashier at Main Street Market. This is her first time running for an elective office. She lives in Baileys Harbor with husband, Craig, and two school-aged daughters. 

Peninsula Pulse: What is your primary motivation for running for a Gibraltar School District Board seat?

Amie Carriere: My primary motivation is my own family and all the families that attend Gibraltar; my daughters have both attended Gibraltar since kindergarten and are currently in sixth and ninth grade. Our sole purpose in moving here was for a better education and life for our kids. I want to ensure that our school continues to offer an exceptional education for all children, while preserving our incredible academic as well as extracurricular opportunities. All students need to have their individual needs met in each area. Programs that benefit students should never be cut or reduced to save money or make room for something else.

PP: Do you agree with how the Gibraltar School District has operated under the pandemic? Please explain specifically what you supported and what you did not, and what you would have done differently.

AC: I support having had a solid plan in place to begin with, but I believe as the situation developed, it should have been reevaluated more often and changed as obvious needs arose. The two three-and-a-half-hour-long block periods per day in the secondary school was a decision that I strongly disagreed with. This was not in the best interest of the students and teachers, and it should have been changed. A five-period-per-day schedule would be much more feasible. I also believe that we should have worked with individual students from the beginning and allowed those who truly needed to be there to attend.

Jamie Christianson, 35, works as the head golf professional at Horseshoe Bay Golf Club. This is his first time running for elective office. He lives in Baileys Harbor with wife, Christine, and two boys who attend Gibraltar. 

Peninsula Pulse: What is your primary motivation for running for a Gibraltar School District Board seat?

Jamie Christianson: My primary motivation for running for the Gibraltar Area School Board is to work with a board that is committed to providing the best opportunities for our kids to learn and grow at Gibraltar; to be a support for the staff, retaining our high-quality teachers; and to hold the administration accountable for

their actions and the growth of the kids and the staff.

PP: Do you agree with how the Gibraltar School District has operated under the pandemic? Please explain specifically what you supported and what you did not, and what you would have done differently.

JC: I don’t look at the pandemic situation as pass or fail; I look at the situation as what we can learn from the actions that were taken by the school board. I supported the new rollout of our “at-home virtual

learning” as an improvement from the spring to fall semesters. I support the teachers and their hard work. I didn’t support the fact that families weren’t given an option at the beginning of this school year for our kids to be in-person learners or virtual learners. I was told it was safer for my kids to be virtual learners. My kids came with me to work and sat in an office where I had over 1,000 visitors Monday through Friday that they encountered every week while the school was shut down.

Erick Schrier, 30, an Egg Harbor resident, works as the chief information officer at Door County Medical Center and also as an online business and technology educator for Upper Iowa University. This is his first time running for elective office.

Peninsula Pulse: What is your primary motivation for running for a Gibraltar School District Board seat?

Erick Schrier: My motivation for running for the Gibraltar School District Board is to be the voice for our communities and educators. I have a passion for education and want to bring that enthusiasm to our district. I understand the complexity of rural public education. We are constantly challenged with finding ways that we can stretch the dollar, without that coming at the expense of education.   

PP: Do you agree with how the Gibraltar School District has operated under the pandemic? Please explain specifically what you supported and what you did not, and what you would have done differently.

ES: The Gibraltar School District has taken precautions to ensure that students and staff are safe upon returning back to school. This includes physically distancing desks, cleaning high-contact surfaces, updating the HVAC system and having assigned seating on school transportation. While online education is a good workaround for those that may be deemed a close contact, it is not a sustainable solution for long-term education for the students. The difficult aspect to this is the lack of social interaction. My greatest concern to prolonged online education is the barrier to social interaction, impacting student behavioral health and overall wellness. Our students and educational workforce deserve to have a safe, interactive learning and teaching environment.  

Angela Sherman 37, works as a homemaker. She currently serves on the Gibraltar School Board, having been elected to that position in April 2018. She and her husband have three young sons. 

Peninsula Pulse: What is your primary motivation for running for a Gibraltar School District Board seat?

Angela Sherman: My involvement began when I asked the Town of Gibraltar and school to stop using chemicals on their lawns. The town stopped, and, once elected, the school stopped as well. During this effort, I found ways to become more involved in school business and saw how my bringing a new voice and perspective was beneficial.

PP: Do you agree with how the Gibraltar School District has operated under the pandemic? Please explain specifically what you supported and what you did not, and what you would have done differently.

AS: I supported the threshold plan our district used to begin the school year. The one resounding goal was to provide continual quality education to our students. The threshold plan allowed our district to do that and gain valuable insight on how we could move forward in a new “normal.” As time went on, it became clear that the threshold plan was no longer serving the district, so I proposed removing threshold data and transitioning into a phase-in plan. In making my phase-in proposal, I tried to combine the desires of all groups into a plan that would make most people able to see parts of their opinions reflected in the plan. While the board was split on when to begin that phase-in, the phase-in plan was unanimously accepted. Now I’m tasked with evaluating the details of the plan to ensure that both goals (continuous quality education and low-incidence virus environment) are being met. I will continue to revisit topics as new information is available.