Alum wins school board seat on promise to preserve world languages

Andrew Saultz, who earned his master’s in teaching degree, won a school board election in Michigan on November 3. “My education has prepared me better than most, and I think I can bring some new ideas (to the district),” Saultz said in a Lansing State Journal article about his decision to run for the school board position.

Saultz taught in the Okemos school district before running for the board position.  He ran on a pledge to preserve his district’s World Language Program at the elementary level, an interest stemming from his own experience studying abroad. After teaching an AP History course and hearing his students talk about the advantage of taking such courses for college credit, he also said he wanted to expand the Advance Placement program in his district.

In the Lansing State Journal article, he talked about his teaching experience and his approach to facing budgetary challenges.

“When making financial decisions, it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers,” Saultz said. “You forget the core mission of the work you’re doing with each financial decision. You have to ask, ‘How does this affect student learning?’”