Hannah Wolfe for School Board 2023
Hannah Wolfe is a candidate for DPS 61 School Board in the 2023 Decatur Election and will be on the ballot in Decatur, Illinois. Hannah's photo is taken from Hannah's website with her permission.
- DPS 61
Campaign Platform
Written by Reed Sutman on Mar 24, 2023
Hannah Wolfe wants to: improve math & reading scores; improve the district's reputation; serve 2 full terms; focus on transparency and communication; listen to students, parents, & teachers for creative solutions; implement an aggressive hiring campaign; improve DPS's relationship with local agencies, businesses, and the media; provide benefits & pay that keep teachers; create a coalition to assist students who are expelled; and support students basic needs so they are "coming to school ready to learn."
Wolfe says that we should be "brutally honest" about history at "an age-appropriate level," without "whitewashing it," so that history "doesn't repeat itself." Regarding LGBTQIA+ issues, she says "our job is to prepare kids for the real world" and that "if Jim has two dads, then Jim has two dads and that's just what reality is, and not something that is age appropriate or not."
Hannah is a Human Resources Information System Analyst at Memorial Health, was born & raised in Decatur, is the daughter of Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, "graduated top of [her] class from Meridian schools," and majored in business at University of Illinois.
Hannah Wolfe is endorsed by Macon County Democrats, Decatur Labor & Trades Assembly, and Central Illinois PAC. The chair of Central IL PAC is Carla Brinkoetter, who owns Brinkoetter & Associates. Hannah accepts political contributions by mail at the Brinkoetter Realtor's office.
Please use the feedback box at the bottom of the page to suggest any information we are missing. Unless otherwise noted, all "quotes" are of Hannah Wolfe.
Goals
- Improve reading & math scores
- Improve the reputation of the district by telling the district's positive stories
- "Look at what programs are working elsewhere and how they can work for us."
- "Listen to our students, parents, and staff on new creative solutions that incrementally impact small groups"
- Serve 2 full terms
- "Focus on transparency and communication to all stakeholders"
- "Take a proactive approach to teacher and staff retention"
- "Further improve the school district's relationships between City & County, Business & Labor, Higher Education, and Media"
- Further develop programs like the Dwayne O. Andreas Ag Academy and Jerry J Dawson Civic Leadership Institute.
- Address the 'student achievement gap' by taking take a data-driven approach, finding a lot of small solutions for different problems.
- An "aggressive hiring campaign", "benefits that are going to keep the teachers that we have", and "competitive pay"
- Give Valdimir Talley, DPS's new safety officer, a "bit of time" to address school security issues, since he was recently hired.
- Create a coalition to plan for & provide a packet of resources to students who are expelled, so they and their parents know their next steps.
- She says the district should support students and "make sure that they have what they need," that they are fed, clothed, housed, and "coming to school ready to learn."
Statements / Quotes
- "unprecedented turnover in board members and superintendents"
- She says workplace violence is increasing in other workplaces like healtcare & other industries, not just schools
- She says if the schools don't succeed & we don't get more people coming back to the district & contributing to the tax base as costs increase, that will have a negative effect on businesses, labor, and workforce.
- "Expelling kids from schools is probably going to be one of the hardest parts of this job. Noone wants to put kids out on the street, and kids deserve second chances because they're kids, but we can't have disrupters in our schools that are keeping other children from learning."
- Regarding teaching of black history, Hannah says "one of the reasons we teach history is so that it doesn't repeat itself," so we need to be "brutally honest about what that history is at an age-appropriate level. Whitewashing it isn't going to help any of us; it's not gonna help any of our kids or the next generations."
- Regarding LGBTQIA+ issues, Hannah says "our job is to prepare kids for the real world. We can't hide certain things, and if Jim has two dads, then Jim has two dads and that's just what reality is, and not something that is age appropriate or not." This was partially in response to a statement Mark Reynolds made.
- "After a global pandemic, we must rethink what day-to-day operations look like, and that is not limited to education"
- "School Board is the cornerstone of everything good that happens in this community. We can't succeed without the school succeeding."
- Regarding the 'student achievement gap': "It's going to take a lot of different small solutions to fix a lot of different small problems"
- She said employee retention is not just an issue with teachers or DPS61 and that "teachers and nurses are leaving their professions en masse nationwide."
- She says "there's a lot of different ways to" get people into the workforce and we need to "constantly be evolving" to get people into the workforce, whether into trades, college, or directly to work.
Current Roles / Jobs
- Human Resources Information System Analyst at Memorial Health
Endorsed By
Contributions can be sent to 1610 E Pershing Road, which is the Brinkoetter Realtors Office. Hannah is endorsed by Central Illinois PAC. Carla Brinkoetter is the chair of Central IL PAC and the President & Owner of Brinkoetter & Associates.
Personal History / Info
- Born & raised in Decatur
- "graduated top of my class from Meridian schools"
- Majored in Business at the University of Illinois
- Daughter of Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe
Sources
Read Full Platform
Read Less
Hannah Wolfe wants to: improve math & reading scores; improve the district's reputation; serve 2 full terms; focus on transparency and communication; listen to students, parents, & teachers for creative solutions; implement an aggressive hiring campaign; improve DPS's relationship with local agencies, businesses, and the media; provide benefits & pay that keep teachers; create a coalition to assist students who are expelled; and support students basic needs so they are "coming to school ready to learn."
Wolfe says that we should be "brutally honest" about history at "an age-appropriate level," without "whitewashing it," so that history "doesn't repeat itself." Regarding LGBTQIA+ issues, she says "our job is to prepare kids for the real world" and that "if Jim has two dads, then Jim has two dads and that's just what reality is, and not something that is age appropriate or not."
Hannah is a Human Resources Information System Analyst at Memorial Health, was born & raised in Decatur, is the daughter of Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, "graduated top of [her] class from Meridian schools," and majored in business at University of Illinois.
Hannah Wolfe is endorsed by Macon County Democrats, Decatur Labor & Trades Assembly, and Central Illinois PAC. The chair of Central IL PAC is Carla Brinkoetter, who owns Brinkoetter & Associates. Hannah accepts political contributions by mail at the Brinkoetter Realtor's office.
Please use the feedback box at the bottom of the page to suggest any information we are missing. Unless otherwise noted, all "quotes" are of Hannah Wolfe.
Goals
- Improve reading & math scores
- Improve the reputation of the district by telling the district's positive stories
- "Look at what programs are working elsewhere and how they can work for us."
- "Listen to our students, parents, and staff on new creative solutions that incrementally impact small groups"
- Serve 2 full terms
- "Focus on transparency and communication to all stakeholders"
- "Take a proactive approach to teacher and staff retention"
- "Further improve the school district's relationships between City & County, Business & Labor, Higher Education, and Media"
- Further develop programs like the Dwayne O. Andreas Ag Academy and Jerry J Dawson Civic Leadership Institute.
- Address the 'student achievement gap' by taking take a data-driven approach, finding a lot of small solutions for different problems.
- An "aggressive hiring campaign", "benefits that are going to keep the teachers that we have", and "competitive pay"
- Give Valdimir Talley, DPS's new safety officer, a "bit of time" to address school security issues, since he was recently hired.
- Create a coalition to plan for & provide a packet of resources to students who are expelled, so they and their parents know their next steps.
- She says the district should support students and "make sure that they have what they need," that they are fed, clothed, housed, and "coming to school ready to learn."
Statements / Quotes
- "unprecedented turnover in board members and superintendents"
- She says workplace violence is increasing in other workplaces like healtcare & other industries, not just schools
- She says if the schools don't succeed & we don't get more people coming back to the district & contributing to the tax base as costs increase, that will have a negative effect on businesses, labor, and workforce.
- "Expelling kids from schools is probably going to be one of the hardest parts of this job. Noone wants to put kids out on the street, and kids deserve second chances because they're kids, but we can't have disrupters in our schools that are keeping other children from learning."
- Regarding teaching of black history, Hannah says "one of the reasons we teach history is so that it doesn't repeat itself," so we need to be "brutally honest about what that history is at an age-appropriate level. Whitewashing it isn't going to help any of us; it's not gonna help any of our kids or the next generations."
- Regarding LGBTQIA+ issues, Hannah says "our job is to prepare kids for the real world. We can't hide certain things, and if Jim has two dads, then Jim has two dads and that's just what reality is, and not something that is age appropriate or not." This was partially in response to a statement Mark Reynolds made.
- "After a global pandemic, we must rethink what day-to-day operations look like, and that is not limited to education"
- "School Board is the cornerstone of everything good that happens in this community. We can't succeed without the school succeeding."
- Regarding the 'student achievement gap': "It's going to take a lot of different small solutions to fix a lot of different small problems"
- She said employee retention is not just an issue with teachers or DPS61 and that "teachers and nurses are leaving their professions en masse nationwide."
- She says "there's a lot of different ways to" get people into the workforce and we need to "constantly be evolving" to get people into the workforce, whether into trades, college, or directly to work.
Current Roles / Jobs
- Human Resources Information System Analyst at Memorial Health
Endorsed By
Contributions can be sent to 1610 E Pershing Road, which is the Brinkoetter Realtors Office. Hannah is endorsed by Central Illinois PAC. Carla Brinkoetter is the chair of Central IL PAC and the President & Owner of Brinkoetter & Associates.
Personal History / Info
- Born & raised in Decatur
- "graduated top of my class from Meridian schools"
- Majored in Business at the University of Illinois
- Daughter of Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe
Sources
Highlights
For more, see Hannah Wolfe's topic page
WAND Interview | 3 minutes
Read a brief recap of Hannah's Interview or watch the video yourself.
Podcast Interview | 30 minutes
Listen to Hannah Wolfe's interview on Thee Morris Code.
Statement of Economic Interest
Hannah Wolfe's Statement of Economic Interest for her 2023 School Board Campaign.
Q/A with Hannah Wolfe
collapse allOpening Statementsothers' answers
Hannah Wolfe
Summary: Hannah Wolfe hopes to raise a family and send her kids to Decatur Public Schools, "which is why I'm running for School Board." She says the negative aspects of Decatur are stated the most and "it's not the truth & it's not the whole picture," and she wants to do better at telling the postive stories. She was born & raised in Decatur, attended University of Illinois with a major in business, then moved back to Decatur to work. She is the daughter of Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe.
Student achievement gap, demographicsothers' answers
Hannah Wolfe
Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** says it is not a "one-size-fits-all solution", or we'd be solving the problem already. She says "not everybody learns the same" and it will take "a lot of little solutions" with everyone in the community working together, "doing little things to help small groups of students at a time," not just the school board. She says we'll nee...
How can DPS retain & recruit the best teachers in our region?others' answers
Hannah Wolfe
Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** advocates for an "aggressive hiring campaign," "benefits that are going to keep the teachers that we have," and "competitive pay like Jacob said", including good health insurance which she says is "incredibly important to be happy with your job." She agrees with Will that "growing our own" teachers would help. She discusses her...
School Safety & Expulsionsothers' answers
Hannah Wolfe
Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** says "we made some good strides" with the recent hire of [Valdimir Talley](https://www.decaturvote.com/story/valdimir-talley/), DPS's new safety officer, and that it will "take a bit of time" to show results. She says violence is a problem not just in schools, but in workplaces in other industries too. She says "I don't think we've...
Black History & LGBTQIA+ Issuesothers' answers
Hannah Wolfe
Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** said "one of the reasons we teach history is so that it doesn't repeat itself," so we need to be "brutally honest about what that history is at an age-appropriate level. Whitewashing it isn't going to help any of us; it's not gonna help any of our kids or the next generations." She says "our job is to prepare kids for the real w...
How to prepare studentsothers' answers
Hannah Wolfe
Summary: **Hannah Wolfe** says there are a "million different answers, because they are going a million different places," whether their path is trades, college, or directly into work. She says there's a lot of good going on already, with the Ag Academy and Leadership Institute. She says "we could always do more", and that "we need this workforce. we are...
Mark Reynolds
Bill Clevenger
Jacob Jenkins
Will Wetzel
Misty Fronk