Morning Edition; Grant Colling

It's morning edition on K-R-P-S. I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro. City, County, and school board elections are easy to overlook because they usually don't occur when federal and state elections are held. There are two seats up for grabs with four candidates running in elections for the Web City school board. Grant Collins is one of two fresh names on the ballot, but he's no stranger to Web City, having graduated from Web City High in 2005. His experience as a Web City school district student was one of the prime reasons he felt compelled to run for the school board. I graduated Web City High School, and when I moved into the Web City school district, I felt that I really flourished. I was able to participate in several extra curricular activities. I went on to college at the University of Hawaii, then I got a master's degree in social work from the University of Michigan, and now I just want to give back to the community back to the school district that I didn't so well in myself and to make sure that future students have the same opportunity.

When Grant was a cardinal at Web City High School, he was involved in the marching band, speech and debate, the French club and theater. He says that the Web City High School staff supported him to pursue those activities, which help him become the person that he is today. Professionally, Grant is a clinical social worker, Theozark Center, an entity of Freeman Hospital in Web City. Grant says that he took to heart the motto of Web City Schools. The tagline motto for the Web City school district is you can go anywhere from here, and I would be a fiddley of that going to the University of Hawaii and then the University of Michigan, and I think that that still holds true if I'm elected and working to broaden the horizons of students. Grant views that one of the most significant challenges facing school districts is having in-person classes. Even as CDC guidelines were updated on Friday, reducing the amount of safe space between students to return safely to school. The challenges I see is getting back to some in-person learning with COVID-19, but I know that the CDC just free did its recommendation for three-feet of distance in schools.

And so one thing that I see as a challenge, what I'd just accomplish is to get back to that in-person learning when it's safe to do so. Being a clinical social worker, Grant knows that schools are more than just buildings. They're an extension of the city, the people who live there, and what's important to them. Grant says that having a working professional knowledge of the building blocks of those relationships would benefit the Web City School Board if elected. Also following CDC guidelines is not just for students, but their families, and the community. The recommendations I would make would be for the safety of not only the students, but also for the community because the students go home and they visit parents, their parents or the grandparents. We don't want the school district or the school system to be the cause of an outbreak. So doing what the CDC would recommend, I know hybrid learning, doing some in-person

and online learning, recommendations like that to keep the community safe when the pandemic was at the height of what it is. COVID-19 and the challenges it has created for the Web City School District aren't why Grant decided to run for the school board in 2021. He's simply proud of the time he spent and the experiences that he had at Web City Schools that helped him become the person he is today and wants to ensure that future generation of Cardinals have the same stellar experience. I believe you should vote for me because I have been able to experience a whole range of different people, culture, ethnicity, because of my background in Web City. I was able to go to the University of Hawaii where only 25% of the student population was Caucasian. And so experiencing new things, different cultures and bringing that experience back to enrich the lives of our student base and our community because the school has a strong influence

in the community with the football games, all that. Just bringing in a different experience and a different perspective from someone who's from the area, but was able to get out, see different things and come back with a fresh set of eyes. Grant Collins is one of four candidates running for one of two three year seats on the Web City School Board. Jason Woodmanzi, Lisa Hartman Robinson and Gretchen Scholl are also running. Municipal elections such as City County of School Board elections occur throughout Missouri on Tuesday, April 6th.