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Ohio's public schools serve 1.6 million children - 90 percent of students in the state! What happens in the classroom has impacts far beyond the walls of the K-12 school building or higher ed lecture hall. So, on behalf of the 120,000 members of the Ohio Education Association, we're taking a deeper dive into some of the many education issues facing our students, educators, and communities. Originally launched in 2021 as Education Matters, Public Education Matters is your source for insightful conversations with the people who shape the education landscape in Ohio. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on Public Education Matters? Email us at educationmatters@ohea.org
Intro - Various members and students speaking 0:08
public Education Matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters because every student matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters because it is the foundation of our democracy. Public Education Matters because we are stronger when we speak in one voice, public Education Matters. Public Education Matters, public Education Matters, public Education Matters. This is public Education Matters, brought to you by the Ohio Education Association.
Katie Olmsted 0:41
Welcome back to public Education Matters. I'm Katie Olmsted, and I'm part of the communications team for the Ohio Education Association and its 120,000 members who work in Ohio's public schools every day. Their work is crucial for the future of our state, for many reasons, but a big one is that the foundation of a strong democracy is a high quality public education, which is essential for an educated citizenry. That's so important, in fact, it's actually one of OEA's core values. And part of the work to support that democracy is helping young people understand it, and their role in it, and helping them see that they can shape the future of their communities themselves. A little later on this podcast, we'll hear from an educator in Westerville, who wants to shape his central Ohio community by running for a seat on city council. But first, we're checking in with Andrea Kruse, Program Director for Kids Voting Ohio, which is bringing important lessons in the democratic process right to classrooms across the state by helping teachers hold mock elections with their students.
Katie Olmsted 1:57
Andrea, thank you so much for joining us. What is Kids Voting Ohio?
Andrea Kruse 2:02
Thank you for having me. Well, Kids Voting Ohio is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that offers free civic engagement programs to Ohio schools. We know that young voters in Ohio have some of the lowest turnout. And we're hoping to change that. So by taking some of the uncertainty out of these basic civic engagements like voting and voter registration, we're hoping that allows for an easier to transition into a truly civically engaged adults. And so two of our key focuses are mock elections and voter registration. And we're hoping these two together can help assist schools in creating and building those voting habits in students.
Katie Olmsted 2:41
So how do the mock elections work? A teacher contacts you and says, Hey, I have these kids, what can you do with them?
Andrea Kruse 2:49
So pretty much. Absolutely. So mock elections are just a really fun way to get the kids to have a hands on civic engagement. So if a teacher is interested, they reach out to us register on the website. And then I reached out to them directly and together, we develop whatever they want to have on their ballot. So we typically start with whatever the parents are voting on, and then pare that down. So maybe we take off some controversial state issues. Or maybe we just want to focus on local races in the community. Whatever it is, the teacher wants to focus on, we create that ballot to be specific to his or her students. And then when that happens, we finalize the ballot and I send the teacher a link. And then what happens next is up to the educator. We've seen some really fun ideas happen. We've seen teachers create mock election rooms where maybe an empty classroom has kind of 15 Chromebooks that are around and the student gets to walk in, they get their special voter ID that kids voting generates for the for the educator, and then they get walked to their booth, which is just a Chromebook. And on that is already loaded the ballot. They type in their specific voter ID and then their, their ballot pops up. They have the ability to vote whatever way they want, and all the issues. And just like we do, they have the ability to review their ballot. And then if they want to make a change, they can go back and do that. Or they can make that decision to cast their ballot. And once that ballot is cast, then that voter ID cannot be used again. And then of course, the students walked out with their special Future Ohio Voters ticker. So we really want to make it as authentic as possible. So, you know, we're just breaking down that uncertainty for this such an important civic engagement.
Katie Olmsted 4:29
I feel like this probably sparks some really important conversations, as well. When when we're talking about you know, your voter ID can only be used one time - That's an important conversation about voter fraud and the integrity of our elections here in Ohio. We can have age appropriate conversations with our kids. But how important is it that we really examine it from the big picture level from a young age? You're working with third through 12th graders.
Andrea Kruse 4:53
It's critical because what we're trying to do is raise this next generation of really civically engaged voters and community members and teaching them at such a young age that this is a privilege and it's exciting. And it's, it's not overwhelming. It's not something that has to be too hard to understand too complicated. You know, it's just it's a, it's a process that they can do. And understanding the basics really does help translate into an adult that's ready to get out there make a difference.
Katie Olmsted 5:23
One of the things you also mentioned was maybe taking off some of the more controversial state ballot questions. This is an age appropriate exercise. It's against the backdrop of some accusations that schools are already too political that that teachers are in giant air quotes indoctrinating kids and all of these things. How do those things coexist? How do we make this a truly apolitical civics thing?
Andrea Kruse 5:54
Well, that's a good question. That is a hot topic right now. I mean, the best way is, is to just offer the information and allow the student to make the decision. So when we're talking about voting and it is a non-political duty that we all have. And Kids Voting is very - We have people on both sides of the aisle on both our staff and both our board. So we're truly just getting the opportunity, we want every student to have the opportunity to have this hands on civic experience. And it doesn't have to be political. I mean, it really is truly teaching the basics of what civics engagement is, you know, what your rights are as a student, as an adult, and then launching them onto adulthood and, you know, armed within with the knowledge and the experience that allows them to walk into becoming a community member that's engaged.
Katie Olmsted 6:48
Right now it is mid September, are you still taking registrations for mock elections heading into the November election day?
Andrea Kruse 6:56
Yeah, absolutely. In fact, this is now is the time. We really can take registrations, I mean, pretty much so pretty close after the actual election, and elections can be held after Election Day. I mean, it's nice to have them around the same time, but they don't have to be on the same day. And whatever works best for the curriculum and the cadence of that teacher's, you know, lesson plan, we can fit into that. And you understand that teachers have a lot on their plate; the last thing they need is just one more thing to add. So we really, really take that seriously and do our best to really remove that burden for them, trying to do as much as possible behind the scenes on our end. So it really is a very simple process that they can just engage the kids in without a whole lot of extra work on their - we hope, no extra work, honestly. Just a few conversations with me or someone on our staff. And then we'll have you up and running and you can allow the kids to take part in their first election.
Katie Olmsted 7:53
Very important work. Andrea, thank you so much for joining us.
Andrea Kruse 7:57
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. And I hope to hear from your teachers, we really want to get the word out and get that experience in all of Ohio schools.
Katie Olmsted 8:09
Whether it's for the coming November election, next year's primary or another election. Beyond that, the first step to bringing the Kids Voting Ohio experience to your school is to register, and the link is in the show notes for this episode. And while you're there, you can go ahead and learn more about our next guest. The link to his campaign website - also in the show notes - lays out exactly where he stands on the issues that he thinks matter most in his community in central Ohio. But before you go clicking on those links, take a listen to our conversation with him over the summer break.
David Grimes 8:49
My name is David Grimes. I live in Westerville. I teach seventh grade science in Westerville city schools and I'm also the secretary of the Westerville Education Association. And I'm running for Westerville City Council.
Katie Olmsted 9:03
David Grimes. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the podcast. So excited to have you in studio with us to talk about why you're doing what you're doing.
Speaker 3 9:15
Well first, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. So I'm running for Westerville City Council. I've been a Westerville resident since graduating from Otterbein in 2015, the university right there in the heart of Westerville, one of the pillars of the community. I just finished my fourth year teaching in Westerville City Schools. Four years before that, I taught in Columbus City Schools. I've developed a lot of my leadership skills and training actually through OEA and being a member of Westerville Education Association as well as Columbus Education Association. And I see a need in the community and a place that I need to step up. And educators are always willing to step up in all of the spaces because we're needed inside and outside the school building.
Katie Olmsted 10:03
Let's dive into that a little bit more. Why, as an educator, do you feel called to try to make a difference at the city level? I know we have a lot of educators who sometimes run for school board. What difference can you make on the city council instead?
David Grimes 10:20
So I actually get that question a lot. Why aren't you running for school board? Since I live in the school district, I cannot run for the school board and teach there as well. So I certainly encourage many of my peers that ask if they live in a different school system than they teach or work, they should definitely run for school board. So the seat I'm seeking is city council, because that's the place I can make an impact. Educators are uniquely qualified for any elected office because we have a front row seat to the future. Right. So I'm running for city council in the same community that my students live, I get to see, hear and feel the same concepts, ideas and everything they want to see when they grow up and be community members, so I'm just trying to help get into a space to not only facilitate that within the classroom and school building, but also outside of the classroom and school building.
Katie Olmsted 11:18
And there are so many things that happen in our school buildings that aren't isolated just to our school buildings. I know part of what you're working towards, as you are trying to make Westerville a better place as a member of city council is making it a more safe and inclusive place for everyone. How does that tie into your experience in the school?
David Grimes 11:39
Yeah, that's right. So our school system isn't an isolated place. Our students and families live outside the school, right? And so anytime we can engage in the community and make it better, will impact our classroom and the students that we work with in the schools. So safe and inclusive environment in Westerville - We are fortunately not as unique anymore, in that we have a non discrimination ordinance on the books in Westerville, which is great. That's a really solid first step. We then hired a DEI director a few years ago, and just building that program and supporting that and really driving the FTE for that - FTE in schools; FTE at city government level -
Katie Olmsted 12:24
What's FTE?
David Grimes 12:25
So essentially, that's just making sure it's fully staffed. Right, as educators in the school system, we would like to see all the resources and everything that we provide to be fully staffed. We need the same thing at city government, right? City government provides all the basic services that our citizens need. And so part of that is also demanding the resources to implement more DEI and intentional practices, really looking at how does everything we do within the city affect all of our population?
Katie Olmsted 13:00
So I think it has to be noted, though, that when you talk about DEI, and that being something we're working towards a lot of schools, especially across the state are dealing with a lot of people saying DEI has no place here. That's diversity, equity and inclusion. It's it's that flashpoint for the culture wars about "educators indoctrinating kids" and all these other things, I'm going to put in air quotes, because it's truly absurd the things that I have to say out loud. Do you see that fight on the city level as well? Do you see that sort of division? Or is that something that really is isolated to our schools because of the culture war things that are happening?
David Grimes 13:41
Well, Westerville is again, sort of in that situation, right. Westerville has a little part of Westerville is in Delaware County. Delaware County is one of the locations of a Moms for Liberty chapter. So they do come to school board, they do say all those things we're hearing. But that doesn't represent the community as a whole. Right? Those are very loud voices. But it's a very small group of thought. And so I think if we just put on that educator hat and have those discussions with the community about what DEI really means, and what that would look like, on the city level, in the school level, most people say, yeah, that is what I want for my students. Yes, that is what I want for my community. And then they kind of, you know, brush off the Moms for Liberty and they get their T shirt and they go back to their chapter.
Katie Olmsted 14:30
So I love that you brought that up about putting on your educator hat. Just one more reason why educators belong on city council and in all of these public offices, because you are so used to working with every kind of person and reaching kids with every kind of need who, you know, teaching one child one way isn't going to work for teaching another child the same way. In the conversations you've had on the campaign trail so far, have you put those skills to work realizing the individual needs of those constituents?
David Grimes 15:04
Oh, yeah. So, you know, part of education is finding out where is the student at that moment? Same thing and discussing with community members and constituents, I have to figure out, where are they? Where are their understandings? Where are their beliefs before we move forward, right. So it's a lot more rather than going, "I'm David Grimes and this is what I'm going to do," it's more of, "I'm David Grimes. Can you tell me what you're looking for? Or what you believe? Or what's valuable to you?" And then finding that middle ground. A lot of people say, Well, what are you going to do when people come up, and they're upset with what you're doing? Or they're upset with an idea you have? Is it well, eight years of teaching middle school 150, middle schoolers every day, I kind of know what it feels like when sometimes there's people upset with what I'm doing. Right. So it's really created a lot of patience. But just meeting everyone where you're at, because especially as an elected official, you're there to represent everyone. Just like you're there to represent all your students and advocate for all your students, you have to advocate for the needs of the whole community as well.
Katie Olmsted 16:06
So aside from the welcoming, inclusive environment piece of this, what else does your community need? What else are you working for if you are elected to the Westerville city council?
David Grimes 16:16
So one of the big or pressing issues of Westerville are really the central Ohio area. And for those other listeners around Ohio, we have a housing crisis, right? Westerville isn't going to solve that alone. But together if every community and every municipality plays its role, and does what it needs to do, and figures out unique and creative solutions to our housing crisis that's really going to support our students, right? Too many students, and families are housing insecure. Too many students and families are being forced to relocate more often than they should. So that creates a lot of stresses that come into the school system, right? And so we need to develop more innovative concepts to put one provide the housing and provide housing and services that are affordable to all of our families. That's families that have students in the school system, that's families that used to have students in the school system, maybe the students separate, the children grew up, and so now it's a retired family. We need to provide that for everyone. And that that helps our school. Westerville, also, interestingly enough, the enrollment projections are down, right? So you wouldn't expect that with Intel coming in, and the looming cloud of development, right. But those are our projections. And so if we can encourage young families or families with children to come into our school system that would benefit.
Katie Olmsted 17:53
And it comes right back again to the skills you've developed as an educator that you're used to coming up with creative solutions to all sorts of problems that seem unsolvable. It's what you do every single day in your classroom. How do you translate that approach to what you're going to have to do in a really collaborative environment with other people on city council?
David Grimes 18:14
That's a really good point. On the spot in the classroom, there is a lot of problem solving. On the spot in the hallway, there's a lot of problem solving. A lot of times it's it's on the individual it's on the the teacher in the classroom, it's on the paraprofessional in the classroom, it's on the cafeteria/recess para. There's a lot of those split moment, decisions that have to be made, luckily on council in Westerville, it's a council-city manager setup, which actually operates super - it's very similar to a school district, right. So the city council hires the city manager and the city manager then essentially runs the city. So mayor in Westerville is more like a ceremonial position. It doesn't hold any other power, where a lot of people think the mayor like runs the show. It's really our city manager. Just like a school board hires a superintendent, the superintendent essentially runs the school district. So the benefit of being on City Council or school board, there's a staff to rely on. Right? So I'm not running with a whole platform of 'David Grimes has all these solutions. And David Grimes knows what to do.' It's more of 'David Grimes is going to help push the issue and help support staff where they're needed.' But it's really the staff and the the employees of the city that make it run. They have the ideas, they can go out and search the innovative ideas. It's really just there to support and push forward the issue. So unlike in my classroom where I have to make us split decision. There's staff to rely on that will make sure that whatever needs done is done. Just like going across the hall and asking my colleague, what should I do about this? Or, you know, going to somebody just all the way across the building sending a quick little email like, what do you think about this? So the collaboration is still there, it's the same thing we're doing every day is just in a different format.
Katie Olmsted 20:12
So it sounds to me like one of the big things as a city council candidate is, as you mentioned, you're not necessarily the person directing the the action, although you are helping to ensure that this is happening, but part of it is prioritizing what's most important for the community and the members you serve, which is honestly just like what you do in the classroom every day is seeing where your students are and what they need in that moment. What are you hearing from the people you've been talking to? You say you ask them, What do you need from Westerville? What do they need?
David Grimes 20:46
That's a very, very good question. Because just like when we're trying to hit every standard, it's where do we focus on and and what do the students need most at that time? There's 40,000 people in this, roughly 40,000 people in the city of Westerville. Everybody has a unique need. But there are some common concerns. One of them is development. Right? Development is a really broad term, kind of like a content statement in our classroom. Development means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some people want to see, you know, Westerville, the way it was historically, some people would like to see the way some of our new parks are developed, some people have very many people have very strong opinions about how we develop our future housing, how we develop our future future commercial space. And again, it's prioritizing that in that there is great concern about how are we going to develop, but then it's on council's job to determine how do we synthesize that and move that forward. Housing. Sustainability is a big, not 'issue' in Westerville, but there's a lot of energy around it. Westerville has a Zero Waste Plan already implemented, we got a great grant from SWACO. I actually chair the green team, which is the city team that helps to promote and implement that plan. And it's now just a matter of putting on, again, that educator hat, we have the systems in place in the city. Now we just need to reach out and engage in the community and and help everybody develop those new practices, like utilizing the composting that the city provides, or recycling correctly through our contracts with Rumpke. And again, everybody has different opinions on that. So meeting them where they are putting on your educator hat and having those discussions.
Katie Olmsted 22:40
Is this on a personal level more pressing for you, because you do work with middle schoolers, and you realize that, you know, these kids, they're inheriting what we leave for them, and they have generations ahead with whatever mess we leave them if we don't take care of some of this right now. As an educator who works with children, does that sort of light a fire under you?
David Grimes 23:03
Oh, yeah. No matter what your what, what capacity, you're working with students in the school building, that that is a great concern of theirs, and they will just bring it up. Like, you could be talking about something totally different. And all of a sudden, they're like, Well, what are we going to do about this? And that's why I say, again, like educators are the only people that have the front seat to the future. Because although that small minority might think we're indoctrinating students about certain topics, or whatever, we're not. We're helping facilitate the ideas that they're already bringing into our space. We're helping them grow and develop into the future people that they're growing into. So yes, I think it's it's very pressing, again, the housing and sustainability, right. Those are those are things that impact our students and families outside of the school. If we can address the concerns that our students are already coming into the building concerned about, that's going to impact their learning as well, right? It's a whole way of addressing all concerns in and outside of our building.
Katie Olmsted 24:01
I do want to go back real quick to something you mentioned there about the concerns, they're already bringing it and helping them through this. It's not about telling them what to think, it's about helping them learn how to think. As you're talking to people throughout the city, is that sort of a mission you're on as well is helping them think through all of these issues in a way that builds towards a more constructive future?
David Grimes 24:26
Yeah, it's all about the mindset, right? In education, a lot of times there's the concept of growth mindset, right? And you said that was a great point, like not what to think, but how to think. Thinking critically and also problem solving. So not just coming in and saying I have this problem. Excellent. Thank you for identifying that problem. How can we work together to address that? Right? So, again, concepts on development. Neighbors will come and coordinate a whole concerted effort on either stopping or changing a certain proposed plan. Right? How can we go and engage those constituents to use that energy that they, on their own brought to then impact to come to a planning study, come and sit on a focus group, how are we bridging that connection? Right? When students come into our school and they see an issue with the school building? We don't go, Oh, that's great. Thanks for letting me know. No. Part of learning is how do we work with that? What are we going to do now. And the wonderful thing about Westerville schools is, a lot of times those turned into like extracurricular groups, or a pause in the lesson at that moment, having a discussion about addressing the immediate concern, and then working it into the plan.
Katie Olmsted 25:43
You mentioned, getting people energized, or using that energy towards these these goals and getting people involved. And it occurs to me, you're already pretty involved in a lot of things. How did you get involved? How did you get on this, this green committee and all these other things you're already doing?
David Grimes 26:01
I would say a lot of it does come from the ideas that students brought in. Seeing the things that they want to do. And then being fortunate to live in the same community that I teach in the same community that I'm now running for council, everything is so interconnected. Right? So if I'm passionate about sustainability, I first joined Sustainable Westerville. And then that led me to chairing the green team, which went from civic organization to more city oriented. Because I don't say no to a lot of opportunities. I do have the privilege of time and energy right now at my stage in life. So I put my name in for Parks and Rec board. Council appointed me to that. And I've learned a lot. So really, if we're teaching our students about how to think, right, you're always looking deeper. Once you know something, you're always asking more questions. It just turns out that when I show up into a certain space, and I learn a little bit about something, I want to go even further. So I've gone down a lot of different spaces, just asking questions, and people say, Well, come find out.
Katie Olmsted 27:13
I love that so much. And I love imagining you as a student doing the same thing when you were a kid as well. And see what what you become as an adult. What made you become an educator? Was that part of the going down the rabbit hole of just asking more questions till you ended up where you are?
David Grimes 27:31
Part of it was my dad was an educator. He's now retired. OEA-R. And also retired as union president as well. So I kind of got those leadership skills there. But yeah, it was just asking questions and wanting to make an impact, right? Educators are civil servants; elected officials are civil servants, it kind of goes hand in hand. I just want to make an impact and make sure that whatever community I'm in, which is Westerville now, is the best it can be. And if I didn't try to make an impact in schools, if I didn't try to help facilitate that future, then what am I doing, you know, leaving the world the same as I was in or better or worse.
Katie Olmsted 28:20
And it all ties back to why public education matters because the best Westerville has the best Westerville schools, has the best resources and supports for students and staff, has everyone working together to make Westerville the best place it can be. In the last few minutes that we have, what is the big thing you want people to understand as they are heading to election day when it comes to why David Grimes makes the best candidate for Westerville City Council?
David Grimes 28:49
I just want to do the best by my community. And I want everyone to know that. Although I do have a front seat to the future in my students, I also represent their parents, I represent their grandparents, their aunts and uncles. I represent the whole families. I represent the families in Westerville that don't have students in the school district as well. And just that, hopefully they hopefully everyone can understand I'm a listener. I'm approachable. I can work with where everyone is at and I think that's what Westerville needs right now. We don't need more divisiveness. We need somebody who's getting in there to work with all because a good candidate for Westerville is a candidate that wants the best for Westerville.
Katie Olmsted 29:34
David Grimes: Educator, candidate for Westerville City Council. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
David Grimes 29:41
Thank you.
Katie Olmsted 29:44
As an educator on the ballot in his local community, David Grimes is in very good company. There are tons of educators across Ohio running for office this November, including quite a few OEA members who are running for seats on their local school boards. We'll hear from a few of them as we head into Election Day, but in the meantime, you can connect with OEA anytime on social media where @OhioEA on Facebook, X, and instagram. Until next time, stay well. And remember in Ohio, Public Education Matters.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai