The Journey to Now
Jenny O’Donnell
New School Board Member and Elementary School Parent
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| Jenny and her family |
My name is Jennifer (Jenny) O’Donnell. I am married to Matt O’Donnell and we have 3 girls, Charli (4th grade), Ellie (2nd grade) and Katie (preschool at Building Blocks). Personally, I’m from a small town in a farming county in Indiana. There were about 1,000 students in my high school to give you a sense of its size. I then graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where I studied Marketing and International Business. Since finishing school, I have worked in the food industry for 20+ years in various cities in the Midwest, at Kraft and Heinz and now Dairy Farmers of America (aka Borden Cheese). Currently, I am the Regional Manager for Borden Cheese, responsible for the Northern Region, which I have managed for the last 12 years.
Four years ago, my husband and I made a conscious decision to move from ‘the city’ to a small community, more along the lines of how both of us grew up. We just skipped right over the ‘burbs that many of our friends chose. We decided that if we weren’t in the city, we wanted to be in the country. We now live in the NW corner of Big Rock on a small farm, where I continue to work from home.
Besides being a full-time working mother of 3, I help lead 2 Girl Scout troops for my daughters. In 2018, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, which resulted in 8 months of treatment and then a declaration of being cancer-free. This September, I found out it was back, so I am battling once again. I only mention that because having cancer has given me a new perspective on life, an opportunity to refocus, and decide to do things that I think have value.
When the opportunity presented itself that there was a Board seat opening, I was very excited to pursue the appointment. I had thought about running in the past, but I was hesitant to run, since I’m not ‘from here’ and people might not know who I was on a ballot. My first thought was to ask my sisters what they thought, since they are both in the education field. One just became the principal of my former high school, after being an English teacher at the high school for 16 years and one is a 4th grade teacher, who has taught almost every elementary grade. I hear about their complaints, their triumphs, and see how hard they work. I have always been jealous of them, in a sense that they get to ‘make a difference’ in kids’ lives. They said that volunteering for the board would be awesome!
Since my appointment, I have been in the process of learning a lot about the inner workings of budgets, laws, tax levies, funding, negotiations and getting to know Dr. McGuire and the other Board Members. Prior to joining the school board, I didn’t know any of these people, and I must say that they are an outstanding group. I have been impressed with their level of professionalism, and I appreciate the diversity of our group. All of us have kids in different schools, or had kids that went to HBR, very different careers, and offer the kind of wisdom you would hope to see on a Board. They have welcomed me with open arms, and I really appreciate that. As for Dr. McGuire, I have worked with him quite a bit, and he has quite a job. The amount of responsibility he has, the decisions he has to make, the dealings he has with the communities and the 3 counties that we get tax revenue from, the job description is endless. I really had no idea before diving into the details.
Along with learning things from the group, I have attended a few training sessions. A couple days were required by the state, but I also attended the Illinois School Board Conference a few weeks ago. I got to choose my breakout sessions, and one I chose was facilitated by an author that wrote The Art of School Boarding. I thought I would share these 10 ‘Rules’ he shared with us, because I certainly knew none of these before joining a school board. I would like to think that sharing things like this will allow the community to know more about what our role truly is:
10. You hire one person (the Superintendent)
9. Set goals for the Superintendent
8. Let leaders lead!
7. Know the chain (who to go to that could best solve a problem and who should solve it)
6. Know your role
5. Be prepared
4. Be ethical
3. Be a team member
2. Be honest fair, and kind
1. Love kids!
There are definitely things on this list that I did not know were the roles of the School Board. I assumed the School Board hired and fired, met with prospective candidates, but it’s really done by the ‘chain’. If we need a new Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Melnyk interviews and presents her recommendation to Dr. McGuire. As long as we have a healthy ‘chain’ that we trust, these decisions are made by them and then approved by the Board later. The School Board is made up of 7 people’s opinions, and all decisions end up as ONE opinion in the end. Majority rules. But, we are representing our constituents, which is YOU. And whether you have students physically present at our schools, or you just pay property tax on your home, you have a stake in the decisions we make. Always feel free to come to meetings or to pull one of us aside to chat.
I look forward to serving my term as well as having 3 kids in the Elementary School next fall. I wish you all the happiest of holidays and a fantastic 2020!!!