Building Bridges in Service
I have been building bridges in the Fredericksburg community since I was student at Mary Washington College from 1985-1989. When my husband, George Foster, and I moved to Fredericksburg in 1995, I served on the board of the Rappahannock Council Against Sexual Assault (RCASA) for 9 years, 3 years as President. I have volunteered facilitating groups at the Fredericksburg Area HIV/Aids Support Services (FAHASS), and social skill groups at Hugh Mercer Elementary School. I served on individual school committees, the Gifted Education and the Special Education Advisory Committees. At St. George’s Episcopal Church, I served on the Outreach Committee, and on Vestry. In 2010, I ran for School Board, and won. I have served as Chair and Vice Chair twice; I have been the Head Start Liaison since 2015, and I was elected as the Virginia School Boards’ Association’s Northeastern Regional Chair and Vice Chair, and I’ve been a member of the VSBA’s Federal Relations Committee.
I’ve extended my bridge building to Richmond and Washington, D.C. by lobbying/advocating at the state and federal levels for public education construction monies, the ability of FCPS to set their own school calendar, mental health personnel and initiatives, and increased teachers’ salaries. I’ve served on the Governor’s Taskforce for School-Based Health Centers, and I currently serve on the State Gifted Advisory Committee.
Building Bridges of Accomplishment
During my tenure on School Board, we have increased our social workers from one social worker for the entire school system to one social worker for each of our schools! We hired a new superintendent whose love of Fredericksburg and all of our students has permeated our schools. This Spring, we broke ground on a much-needed middle school. We will renovate and repurpose our current middle school as a third elementary school–expanding our elementary schools from 2 to 3, and easing the crowding of our schools.