I’m Wendy and I’m running for our Board of Education. It’s nice to meet you!

The Short Bio: Cross-stitcher, genealogist, author, gamer, collector of pretty math rocks

Favorite Authors: Gail Carriger and Jane Austen

Favorite TV Show: Critical Role (fine, it’s on YouTube, Twitch, and Beacon, but that counts, right?)

Favorite Music: Classic rock, metal, alt-rock, punk, pop

Favorite Dinosaur: Stegosaurus (they’re friend-shaped! Check out the OG Land of the Lost!)

The Long Bio: If you see someone at Conestoga events cross-stitching before the show starts… that’s me! If you have a very polite young man serving you at Scooter’s in Plattsmouth, that’s my son, Conestoga class of 2021. If you’ve ever seen someone hard at work helping the Cass County Museum with their IT needs, that’s my husband. Our daughter, class of 2031, likes to stay out of the spotlight, but she’s always receiving academic awards and on the honor roll.

I spent the first 20 years of my adulthood as an Air Force spouse and served as a Key Spouse at bases both state-side and overseas. I work full time as a paralegal, supporting an attorney with a caseload that encompasses juvenile, family, and criminal matters. For many years, I taught writing and genetic genealogy at Southeast Community College as an adjunct instructor.

I’m an avid cross-stitcher, reader, genealogist, and gamer. Developing my daughter’s creativity and love of art is one of the most fun things I get to do in my life. My husband and I fell in love thanks to D&D and a shared love of video games and tabletop RPGs. As an author, I’m pro Oxford-comma.

Originally when I had my son, I was committed to homeschooling for a variety of reasons: mainly for the flexibility it offered both for individualized education and the uncertain transitions that come with being a military family. That flexibility served us well in South Korea and England, where my son got to experience something new every day and deepen his respect for different cultures.

When we settled in Nebraska, my son asked to attend public school, and what a wonderful decision that was! He received the education I wanted for him, as well as many exciting opportunities and fantastic teachers. He chose to get involved in classes that kept him engaged and sparked his creativity. My son graduated with resilience, grit, and an eagerness to take on the world.

My daughter has attended Conestoga since preschool and my husband attended when he was young, and his father was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base. When we met at Osan Air Base in 2010, his dream was to return to the Murray and Beaver Lake area, where he had spent the happiest years of his childhood. After his enlistment ended and we returned to the United States from RAF Lakenheath in England, we made his dream happen.

As someone who started as a homeschooling parent when I had my son in 2002, I never expected to find myself deeply involved in volunteerism at Conestoga – from helping make the 2020 Junior-Senior Prom a reality during Covid to actively participating in the PTO and chairing the book fair, as well as assisting with a neuro-divergent alternative scouting group in Plattsmouth.

Thank you for allowing me to be one small piece of what makes this school district so special! I appreciate all that I have been privileged to do for our school district. My vision is for Conestoga to continue to be a vibrant and diverse district that equips our children with everything they need to succeed at every stage of their lives.