Jenn Jennings

Hello, I am Jenn Jennings and I am running for the Board of Education.

For those of you who do not know me, I am a Mom of 3 (I have one child entering GHS, one at Gideon and one at Hebron Avenue School).  On any given day we are on a soccer field, lacrosse field, football field or ice rink. I am also the proud wife of a Law Enforcement Officer, one who has dedicated nearly two decades to the City of Hartford.

I was born and raised in Stamford, CT and 17 years ago I moved to Glastonbury.  My educational background is in Sociology, Criminal Justice, Public Administration and Social Work.  I am the Executive Director of a trade association that supports hard working contractors.  In that capacity I frequent our Legislative Office Building and understand the process.  In addition, I am a Realtor.  I understand how the property market works and what contributes to price appreciation in this market.  Education and Safety are the driving forces behind Glastonbury value.  Even those of us who do not have children or whose children are already grown or not in our school district, as a taxpayer are still stakeholders.

The past 18 months have been filled with many uncertainties and significant changes without awareness to all stakeholders (not only pandemic related).  The pandemic has served as a vehicle to drive changes that would not have been passed during standard governmental procedure.  This lack of transparency has caused many to question the priorities of our current Board of Education. The overall environment of our schools starts with leadership and requires a strong support system in place that advocates for overall student wellness, while safe guarding the core principles that make our school system sought after.  Freedom! Opportunity! Respect! Compassion! Accountability! These are timeless principles.

A government that cannot address its peoples’ top needs will quickly lose the trust of the people and we are seeing that.  A specific example: last summer, just weeks before a school year filled with uncertainties was set to begin, our leaders in Glastonbury prioritized changing a mascot, sent out rhetoric that focused on negative narratives of other communities and continued that momentum in curriculum changes and additions that play into a media driven narrative.  For a democracy where government gets its authority from the consent of the governed, this is worrisome.  How little regard the current leadership has for accountability to the stakeholders, and even more worrisome is the lack of acknowledgement of our concerns.

Politics and personal agendas do not belong in our schools.  Government does not create our dreams or set our goals, we do – and dreams do not work, unless we do!  A journalist has the power to shape the minds of the public with their words – just as much as a teacher’s words can shape the minds of students.

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” ― Ronald Reagan

So here it is… I am Jenn Jennings, a proud American and I am running for the Glastonbury Board of Education, for my children and yours… for our tomorrows and for our community as a whole.