About Me

It's me, hi!

My name is Hannah, and I am a Human Resources Information System Analyst at Memorial Health. I was born and raised in Decatur, IL. I graduated top of my class from Meridian schools and majored in Business at the University of Illinois. I chose to move back to Decatur to live, work, and hopefully raise a family.

My Life

This is my dog, Betty. We like to walk around the West End listening to Taylor Swift or True Crime podcasts. In my free time, I also enjoy cooking and DIY home improvement projects.

My Family

I have an incredibly supportive family that you may recognize from their community involvement. My family has dedicated their lives to serving this community, and I am excited to do the same through public education. We are a very tight-knit group and enjoy family dinners most Sundays.

What's the Plan?

Rebuild Foundation

Improving our reading and math scores is vital to our success. Problems in Decatur are not unique to just Decatur. After a global pandemic, we must rethink what day-to-day operations look like, and that is not limited to education. Every other industry has had to adapt to a "new normal" and we must meet our children where they are at to figure out how to get them where they need to be. If there were a singular solution to improving our kids' reading and math scores, we would already be doing it. Instead, we must look at what programs are working elsewhere and how they can work for us. We must listen to our students, parents, and staff on new creative solutions that incrementally impact small groups. We cannot right past failures overnight, but we must do as much as we can, in as many ways as we can, as often as we can.

Stabilize Leadership

Consistency in good leadership is essential among the board, administration, and staff. We have seen unprecedented turnover in board members and superintendents. If elected, I pledge to commit to serving two terms with a focus on transparency and communication to all stakeholders. It is also imperative that we take a proactive approach to teacher and staff retention.

Strengthen Partnerships

I hope to further improve the school district's relationships between City & County, Business & Labor, Higher Education, and Media. DPS already has successful relationships with Richland Community College and Millikin University, and I hope to further conversations to build those relationships. We must also continue to further engage the Business and Labor communities through mentorships and partnerships with the future workforce. Building on current success is vital to future successes.

I also hope to improve the relationship between the district and the wider media. DPS has so many success stories and incredible programs. It is important to me to continue to not only tell these stories, but to help make them heard.

The success of our kids drives the success of the rest of this community. We can't solve every problem overnight, but it is our responsibility as the adults in the room to come together and improve the education of our kids.