Fountain Valley News - Your Hometown Community Newspaper

Editor's Note: This week we continue the series of responses from local school board candidates. See Oct. 6 and 13 issues for numerous other candidates in FFC8 and WSD3. Any other candidates who respond to our questionnaire will be included in the Oct. 27 issue. These responses are in their own words.

Michelle Massaro

Present/Past Employment: Ready and Resilient Director, Fort Carson & 4ID (2009-Present); Past work experience: Army Community Service- Fort Carson; Army Community Service- Giessen & Butzbach Germany; Evans Army Community Hospital- Fort Carson, CO (2000-2009).

Education: Master's in Management, Organizational Leadership; Bachelor of Science, Exercise Science.

Background/Community Service/Related Experience:

Mrs. Michelle Massaro is the Ready and Resilient Director for Fort Carson and 4th Infantry Division. She has been in the position since Jan 2009. Her portfolio responsibilities include internal and external collaboration and communication across all aspects of community health and high risk behavior prevention, awareness and training across the installation. She is responsible for the facilitation and oversight of policy, program development, outreach, future planning, training, data and surveillance assistance, resource management, and advocacy efforts for the Soldiers, their Families, and Department of the Army Civilians. Her focus is centered on leveraging expertise from multi-disciplinary professionals to develop and execute an integrated public health approach to suicide prevention and risk mitigation across multiple spectrums in order to increase the wellness and readiness of the military force.

In addition to her work with the Army, Mrs. Massaro is actively integrated across the Pikes Peak area, involved with many programs, school districts and organizations to help build life skills and coping mechanisms at an earlier age in order to prevent suicide. She has participated in the Fountain Citizen's Academy; volunteered at multiple City of Fountain, FFC8, Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs and Fort Carson events; advised and organized Vietnam Veteran Reunions and Welcome Home ceremonies for National Guard Soldiers.

Michelle has been actively involved with her children's schools and extracurricular activities including, but not limited to: Fun Run/5ks, Carnivals, Field Days, Latte with Leadership, various sports programs, DECA, Flight School and organized school trips. Michelle has a background in Athletic Training/Exercise Science and Organizational Management focused on organizational leadership and behavior.

How long have you lived in the school district?

14 years (June 2007-present).

Do you have/have you had children attending the district's schools?

Yes, I have a daughter who is a Senior at FFCHS. She attended FMS and Eagleside Elementary School. My stepdaughter graduated from FFCHS in 2017 and is currently attending the University of Wyoming on an Air Force ROTC scholarship.

Why did you decide to run for school board?

I am seeking a second term on the FFC8 School Board to continue to have a positive effect on school district operations, as well as to continue to serve the community in which my family lives and goes to school. I feel passionate about being involved with my kids' education, understanding the climate in which decisions that affect all of students are made and furthering the FFC8 legacy of ensuring high quality programming is built to benefit students and families in an efficient manner across the entire district.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge(s) the school board/school district is facing, and how would you address it/them?

Fiscal challenges lie ahead with the increased growth of the City of Fountain, the changing population of Fort Carson, as well as continued COVID-19 requirements. Understanding growth development & growth projection plans for the City of Fountain, the demographics of those moving into Fountain, ongoing COVID impacts and the varied effects to the amount of funding we receive over time continues to require a diligent effort across the district to ensure that we are able to continue to provide the excellence support and services across all facilities, staff, safety, and programming is crucial. If we fail at strategically planning as a holistic effort, our children will suffer.

Why should voters elect you?

I bring continuity and organizational perspective to the School Board. As the only candidate with experience that transcends the cultural change that we have worked diligently to implement over the past 4 years, I am able to understand the vision and goals set forth by the District and ensure that we continue to make FFC8 the District of choice for students and staff across the region. From my professional experience, I am able to look at the overall picture of the School District, see where we were and where we want to go, and make decisions based on what is best for the success of the organization and students, not any one particular agenda or special interest group. We need to be keenly aware of the needs of our students to develop their social emotional intelligence, as well as their academic intelligence, and ensure that we do not lose sight of the fact that the environment in which these students are learning is not the environment of their parents or grandparents will continue to serve us well as a district. I will continue to strive to ensure that innovation and passion for successful learning remains forefront to our work as a collective Fountain-Fort Carson District 8 School Board.