Party Affiliation

If you're reading this blog post, first, I would like to say thank you and well done for diligently researching your candidates. Second, please allow me to explain who I am and why I'm running for office.

The two most common questions I'm asked when meeting folks in my town are a variant on "How old are you?" and "Are you a Democrat, Republican, or Independent?", and the answer to these two questions go hand in hand.

I'm twenty-four years old. I've been caring for children since the age of fifteen, and have always worked to instill in them the values of honesty, respect, responsibility, and caring (which used to be the YMCA's motto before it became The Y). My interest in politics emerged at about that time because I realized that "the government" wasn't a big, scary over seer, but a collection of people who were supposed to represent the general populace. They were all supposed to be leaders, forward thinkers, who could envision a better world for everyone and strive toward it. Politicians were to adults what I was to children, and I was perfectly content to watch their decisions in order to learn how I was expected to behave.

What I saw throughout most of high school made me afraid to grow up. Only recently have I seen role models in the political arena who live the type of lesson I would teach to my campers or students. Elizabeth Warren believes playing a game based on exclusion and imbalance is unfair. Wendy Davis stood up for those who were being bullied while looking out for themselves, their families, and their futures. Angus King regularly demonstrates that personal beliefs should come before partisan politics. And my father, David Van Wie, taught me that when society needs a shove in the right direction, bear the burden of the spotlight yourself rather than passing it off on others.

I want to represent my town by focusing on what our education system, our community, and our leadership could be. The residents of New Gloucester taught me from a very young age that human beings are kind-hearted, honest, and hard working. Whenever that was missing from the main stage of our government, my mind told me it was only a matter of time before there would be people who did public service the right way. Many of those people were Democrats, and I count myself among them. I've heard more times than I can count "Your generation might actually solve some of these problems". Well, I sure hope so. It's time for the building of bridges to begin, and time for the finger pointing, fear, and blame to end.

Economic Policy

I've worked in New Gloucester since I was 15 years old, when I could first work under Green Papers, and volunteered at the Pineland Y's summer camp before that. I've worked with children over half my life. Since college, I hoped to move back to Maine and establish myself in a school district where I shared a common interest and knowledge of rural life with my students. My ambitions seemed simple enough after the ease with which I'd found teaching jobs in New Hampshire and Vermont. Over the summer though, I quickly discovered that our LePage era budget hindered school districts so much that I was competing against veteran teachers with decades of experience for full time jobs, or even year long temporary jobs.

Once I am up in Augusta, I intend to find ways to expand our education budget so that schools are able to create entry level jobs for educators. Additional education technician positions will have the triple benefit of allowing educated young professionals to settle in our great state and get a foot in the door at entry level positions, help over burdened teachers in the classroom, and offer support to the next generation of young Mainers while they work hard at the education they deserve.

Education Policy

I've spent the past school year working as an education technician in a preschool special needs classroom. I've wanted to be a kindergarten teacher since elementary school, and worked hard through college to obtain my teacher certification. After completing my practicum and working as a long term sub in New Hampshire and Vermont schools, I knew I had made the right choice in careers. I was excited to return home to Maine and find a school district where I could settle down and be happy with my adult life. However, during the past year I spent almost as much time taking data to prove to the state of Maine and insurance providers that I was an effective teacher than I did actually being an effective teacher. Before I find and commit to a full time classroom job of my own, I feel it is important to go up to August and change our current legislation so that fully trained professional teachers can do what they do best. Teach.