Powers ready to help guide schools
COEUR d'ALENE - Stephanie Powers is ready to roll her sleeves up and get to work.
The Coeur d'Alene woman was selected Monday for appointment to Vern Newby's soon-to-be-vacant zone 2 seat on the Coeur d'Alene School District's Board of Trustees. The five-member board chose Powers by a vote of 4-1.
"I'm looking forward to the challenges and getting back into the schools," Powers said.
In her professional life, and as a volunteer, Powers has been involved in the schools in Coeur d'Alene and with districts throughout Idaho.
She previously worked as a consultant for the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, a nonprofit that supports education.
"In my Albertson work, I worked with school boards to bring them in line with the administration. We worked on strategic plans and initiatives," Powers said.
She consulted professionally on the Coeur d'Alene district's strategic plan in 2000.
Powers now works as director of regional support for Pita Pit, a job in which she enjoys seeing projects through to completion.
She sees herself in that same role as a board member.
"It's very policy driven. I'm looking forward to working on policy development that will benefit, drive the decision making process," Powers said.
Powers has a wealth of prior volunteer work on her resume, much of it on behalf of children for the district and with various local agencies and nonprofits.
She said she hasn't volunteered much in recent years, and has missed the community involvement.
Powers sees serving on the school board as a good way to pull the experience she's gained over the past 20 years together and put it to use.
"I think that a community and its economic viability is dependent on a strong public school system," Powers said. "I think that we are in a position to provide that in the Coeur d'Alene School District, and I want to be part of that."
Powers will begin serving once she is officially sworn in during the school district's July 12 board meeting.
She will complete the rest of Newby's term through July 2011, but will have to win a May trustee election to continue in the position.