Two candidates with longstanding and continuing ties to the Aberdeen School District will face each other for the school board Position 1 seat in November’s general election.

Incumbent Jennifer Durney grew up in Aberdeen and graduated from Aberdeen High School and Grays Harbor College. She returned to Aberdeen and her two daughters are attending school in the district. Challenger Devin Backholm was also born in Aberdeen, and he and many family members have graduated Aberdeen High School. Both answered some questions related to their qualifications for the position.

Why are you running for school board?

Durney: “I am a product of the Aberdeen School District and a firm believer that the district has some of the best staff and leaders who look out for our students and make sure they are getting the best education with what tax dollars are available in our community. I want to get more involved in the process and learn more about how things work and what we can do differently to make sure every student gets the best education they deserve regardless of circumstances they may be facing in any aspect of their life.”

Backholm: “I am running because I believe I can add an additional dimension to the scope of experience and knowledge already existing in the board. My life experience would enhance our efforts as a community to educate our youth. For the last 16 years I have been in the financial industry, working with insurance — both life and casualty — and also investments, being licensed for securities of all sorts. Previous to the recent years, I ran a contracting business and before that worked in church ministry as a pastor, school administrator and various other associated activities.”

What has been your personal involvement with education in our community?

Durney: “I grew up in Aberdeen, graduated from Aberdeen High School, then graduated from Grays Harbor Community College before obtaining my bachelor’s degree from WSU. I moved back to Grays Harbor to raise my daughters in the wonderful community I was raised in. I have two daughters who attend school in Aberdeen and have volunteered in their classrooms and supported fundraisers that are put on by their school Parent Teacher Organization groups. I have also been a volunteer for eight years on the YMCA annual campaign as a campaigner and for the past six years as a co-captain to help raise scholarship dollars for local youth who may not have access to the YMCA due to financial restraints to help them get access to the educational and recreational programming the Y offers.”

Backholm: “I was born in Aberdeen and, at this writing, there are 21 living family members who have graduated from Aberdeen High. I have 12 years of experience in administration of a private Christian school and many years of involvement with homeschool practitioners, in addition to the already mentioned years of participation in our public school.”

What makes you stand apart from your competitor?

Durney: “I was appointed to fill the vacant position and have begun learning how things work within the district and what we can do to support our staff and students going forward. I’m also the mother of a high school freshman and sixth grader attending schools in the district.”

Backholm: “I think my experience in all three of the major educational arenas of our time is unique and helpful. Direct involvement is the best way to learn about anything and I have had that involvement. It will increase the effectiveness of our efforts to assist all parents in the task of educating their children.”

What do you feel is the number one challenge facing our schools today?

Durney: “I feel the number one challenge facing our schools today is the stress and focus placed on staff to teach to test standards and for the students to perform well on these tests. There is a lot of classroom time being spent on testing and preparation and I feel we are losing important learning time.”

Backholm: “I believe it is the fact that we don’t know who we are as a nation. We have lost our central rallying point. We have lost the ‘Unum’ in ‘E Pluribus Unum.’ We see people polarizing around a hundred disparate loyalties and then wonder why we are experiencing such turbulence socially. So the challenge is to restore the values of our Founding Fathers who were very clear-headed about what they were ready to die for. Practically speaking, the way out of this is to take very seriously the teaching of our national history, founding documents and their key principles, writings of the founders, patriotic songs, heroes in war and peace, and what all this means for us today. I know of three sources of curriculum ready and waiting to be deployed for this task in grades 1-12. Every other challenge or concern that can be raised will be positively affected by this focus.”

What is a priority concern you might have regarding the district that has not been raised?

Durney: “I don’t have a priority concern regarding the district. I’m just interested in learning all that I can and work with the other members of the school board and superintendent to make sure we are providing a quality education to our students.”

Backholm: “My priority concern is the same as the number one challenge.”