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Veteran teacher takes on slate in Burr Ridge’s Gower district
Election 2013
Who they are
Ryan Asmus
Occupation: vice president and general counsel, Rush-Copley Medical Center
Lived in district: 10 years
Hometown: Burr Ridge
Positions held: member, Gower School Board, 2009-2013; president, Gower school board, 2011-13
Todd Koehler
Occupation: educator
Lived in district: 10 years
Hometown: unincorporated Hinsdale
Positions held: none
Young Ra-Hurka
Occupation: physician, internal medicine, Loyola University Medical Center
Lived in district: 8 years
Hometown: Burr Ridge
Positions held: member, Gower District 62 School Board, 2009-13; co-vice president, Gower PTO
Joe Schulte
Occupation: partner, Ernst Young LLP
Lived in district: 5 years
Hometown: Burr Ridge
Positions held: Gower School Board, 2011-2013
Ramona Stephens-Zemaitis
Occupation: full-time mother and elder caregiver, part-time recording secretary, Lemont Public Library District board.
Lived in district: 18 years
Hometown: Burr Ridge
Positions held: 18-year member, Lithuanian Foundation board of directors; chairman, Lithuanian Foundation scholarship subcommittee; member, Lithuanian Foundation grants committee
Article Extras
Updated: April 22, 2013 6:05AM
BURR RIDGE — Three incumbents have teamed up with an active school volunteer in hopes of filling the four vacant seats on the Gower Elementary District 62 Board.
Taking on the slate of Ryan Asmus, Young Ra-Hurka, Joe Schulte and Ramona Stephens-Zemaitis is newcomer Todd Koehler. But while Koehler is new to the ballot, he has spent decades in the field of education.
Koehler said his 25 years of experience as an educator would be a positive contribution to the board. He said his primary goal would be to make decisions in the best interest of the students.
“The school district can create better learners by making sure the teachers and administrators have the resources to do their jobs,” he said.
Stephens-Zemaitis is the other non-incumbent on the April ballot. The mother of a third-grader at Gower West said serving would be a natural extension of the work she already has begun.
Starting as an in-class volunteer, Stephens-Zemaitis has since joined the Gower PTO, taught the third-grade Junior Achievement program and participated in interviewing the final candidates for superintendent.
She would like to find alternatives or supplements to traditional standardized testing, which she said limits instructional hours and may not be representative of all students’ capabilities, particularly those of the district’s growing number of English Language Learners. She also would like to see an increased emphasis on the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
With so many recent changes, board member Young Ra-Hurka said stability on the board is important, noting in the past two years there has been a new superintendent, assistant superintendent and principals at both schools. Meanwhile, the schools are transitioning to the Common Core Curriculum and both schools are preparing for major building renovations.
“With the changes in administrative team, strong and consistent leadership from the board is imperative,” she said.
Ra-Hurka sees a need to provide more foreign language instruction at the elementary level, which she said could benefit students as they enter high school.
“The goal in education is not for every child to pass the state requirement, but to ensure that all children are continuously learning so they are best able to succeed in life beyond primary education,” she said.
Board President Ryan Asmus said he would like a chance to pursue improvements to the schools’ media centers, including the hiring of certified librarians.
“Being elected to another term on the board would allow me the opportunity to see a number of major board initiatives through to completion,” he said.
Schulte said his work in Europe and in the business world provide the board with a unique and beneficial perspective.
“The board must work with the district administration to get our students ready to compete in the global environment,” said Schulte. “We can do this by assessing our curriculum to find gaps where we can consider improving our programs.”
