Karen Matso For School Committee

10/04/2020

In case y'all missed the Seacoast Online article highlighting the 4 school committee candidates:
https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20201002/kittery-school-committee-candidates-answer-questions

I hope for your votes! I will also be voting for John Dorlean. He is a good guy, and I know him to be an honest and thoughtful person with integrity.

KITTERY, Maine — Four candidates will vie for two vacancies on the School Committee during the Nov. 3 election. Seacoast Media Group sent

10/04/2020

Looking forward to candidates night this Wednesday, October 7 at 6:00! Here is the link to tune in!

Council Chambers remains closed at this time. The Candidate Night event will air LIVE on Channel 22, the Town of Kittery website (www.kitteryme.gov) and Facebook (KitteryChannel22)

09/22/2020

Good afternoon. I was asked a series of questions on one of the Kittery pages and over the next week or so, I will gladly answer them. The first question was about my credentials and what kind of social work I was trained in. Here is my reply:

I attended Colgate University where I received a BA in English, then moved to Los Angelos to teach third grade in Compton, through Teach For America. During this experience I met my husband and also figured out I needed more education in order to serve kids. I moved to NYC and in 1991, received a dual masters degree in Social Work (school social work concentration) and Education through a combined program at Bank Street College of Education and Columbia University in NYC. During that time I interned in the city court system counseling families and teens, and also at a school on the lower east side. When I graduated, my husband and I moved to New Hampshire and I worked in elementary schools in Barrington and Durham, before having my twin boys. Once the boys came, I taught homeschool groups for three years until I felt Ok about sending the boys to pre-school. Shortly after, I joined Traip Academy and Shapleigh as their adolescent literacy specialist. When the grant ended that paid my salary, I went on to work in York for 4 years in a similar role, then to the NHDOE as a contractor, and ultimately joined two friends to begin my own small company called Demonstrated Success. The mission of our company is to support teachers in their efforts to do their best to support kids!

09/18/2020

Good morning. Unsurprisingly, I have been asked about my position on the SRO question, and here is my response:

I have been Listening: Listening to many people I care for and admire offer their research based opinions, and their lived experiences to support why Kittery should not have an SRO officer in our schools. Listening to the anxieties of community members who want our students to be safe and feel that having an SRO is important to that end. Listening to parents for whom the current resource officer, Jay, has been a pivotal relationship for their child or children. Listening to my prior Traip students, now adults in Kittery, for whom the SRO at that time, provided mentorship and friendship. Listening to teacher friends, whose opinions are as diverse as their personhood.

We all want the same things for our children: physical and emotional safety as they strive to be successful in school. This is foundational in educational best practice: students cannot learn if they do not feel a sense of safety, community, and belonging. As a highly student-centered educator, this one of my biggest priorities.

As a school committee member, and hopefully a member of the Task Force for this issue, I will continue to Listen. From what I have heard so far, I am not ready to say unequivocally that I am against presence of a police officer in Kittery schools; I do believe that having a positive relationship with local police is a valuable thing for students and families. What that presence can look like is wide open and there are some great examples out there to explore. I look forward to helping craft a role for our local police to have a positive presence in our school community.

What I can say unequivocally is that due to our tight school budget and the overriding priority of educating students, I would like to see the town fully fund any police initiatives with the school, and have school funds directed towards academic initiatives, mental health supports and additional mentors for our children.

We are a small and caring community and I have every confidence that together, we can construct solutions that support safety, community and belonging for all of our students and staff in Kittery schools. I look forward to being part of these solutions.

09/16/2020

Good morning. I was on the phone with a colleague this morning, hearing about all the learning that has gone on for teachers in her district, and how they plan to capitalize on all that learning after we are back in "brick and mortar" classrooms (sans distancing and full classes). I look forward to exploring ways to diversify our instructional delivery in Kittery, using all the new skills that teachers, and students have acquired in this emergency time. There are so many tools and strategies for engagement and distance learning that our students and teachers are becoming adept at. I believe that the outcome, long after the pandemic is over, will be stronger, better, more student centered instruction than ever before.

09/13/2020

Thank you to Kittery Schools for working to keep our community safe!

09/10/2020

Best of luck to students, teachers, and administrators during our first full week of COVID-style school. Thank you to all who worked hard to develop a plan to meet the needs of our community. Thank you to parents for their work in trying to keep all of our staff and students safe. And last but never least, thank you to our students for all of their resilience, patience, and enthusiasm. We can do this... TOGETHER!

09/10/2020

Welcome to my official page!

My name is Karen Matso and I am running for School Committee in Kittery, Maine. I am a lifelong public school educator, and I have worked at the school, district, and state levels. I am also a trained social worker with strong facilitation and communication skills. I have a long history of commitment to our students and staff in Kittery schools, and my two sons attended Kittery schools from Kindergarten through graduation. I hope to have the opportunity to support our students, teachers, administrators, and families through serving on our school Committee.

Follow this page to stay up to date on school happenings, ideas to support our students and teachers during COVID, and ideas for the future for our school community. Feel free to check out my Instagram page as well!

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