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“I don’t have answers to all the questions, but I’m willing to work hard and I’m willing to learn, and I’m willing to work with others, because we are a team,” said Paula Charlton, running for the Buena Vista School Board.
“I think that together we can accomplish so much more for our students, and we can’t lose sight of the fact that we need to support our teachers. That’s critical. Because if we’re not fully staffed, that puts more and more on them and on the administrators. Students and staff, that’s it.”
Charlton, who describes herself as “a product of this school division,” was born in Lexington, and graduated from Lynchburg College with a degree in elementary education before coming back to Buena Vista to teach.
“I came back here to work after I graduated college, because this community had given so much to me, growing up, and I loved living here, and I wanted to give back,” she said.
Charlton retired from teaching after almost 40 years, but has continued her involvement in other ways.
“I taught 38 and a half years here, then retired, and then went back and started substituting, and then I become a teacher’s assistant. And then I worked at the middle school for several years, helping the teachers. That’s my background.”
Because of this background, Charlton understands teacher retention to be an important issue in Buena Vista schools.
“We have to face it, there’s a teacher shortage. I think that’s a challenge for every school division, whether it’s small or large. But that’s really tough. Because if you don’t have the staff, how are you going to meet the needs of the students? Students have to always have top priority. But I do think retention of staff, with the teacher shortage, its critical,” she said.
While the size of the division will make this challenging, Charlton also believes that it provides unique opportunities.
“We face every challenge that every other school division faces. But in a small community, it is a challenge. On the other hand I think a small school division gives teachers the opportunity to know their students better, to recognize their needs, and do something about them.”
If elected, Charlton would keep her focus on students.
“We can’t lose sight of our students, because they have, not just educational needs, they have family needs. Our students come to us with so many things on their plate, we sometimes don’t know all of them. It’s challenging, to be in education.”
Leadership will be important in addressing this challenge.
“I think you have to have a good person at the top, a good superintendent, and I think Dr. Francis is one. You’ve got to have those leaders, principals, it’s important that they’re there, with their staff, and that they understand the challenges. And I think we do here in BV, our principals are good.”
She also believes community support will be crucial.
“I think we need to provide the best education for our students that we can. And to do that, we’ve got to be fully staffed, and we’ve got to have support for one another. Everybody’s got to be supportive of everybody else,” said Charlton.
“We have a spirit of caring and concern, a fighting spirit to achieve all that we can achieve even though we are a small school division, and we care. This community cares and supports people. We may not always agree with what everybody does, but we care and we support one another, and I think that’s critical for success in a school division.”
