Anne Keke
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Anne Keke is an at-large member of the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education in Colorado. She assumed office on November 30, 2021. Her current term ends in 2025.
Keke ran for election for an at-large seat of the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education in Colorado. She won in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Keke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Anne Keke was born in Rubino, Ivory Coast. Keke earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado-Denver in 2008, a master's degree from Colorado Technical University in 2012, and a Ph.D. from Colorado Technical University in 2019. Her career experience includes working as a teacher. Keke has been affiliated with the African Leadership Group, the Village Exchange Center, and the Aurora Chamber.[1][2]
Elections
2021
See also: Aurora Public Schools, Colorado, elections (2021)
General election
General election for Aurora Public Schools Board of Education At-large (4 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Aurora Public Schools Board of Education At-large on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Anne Keke (Nonpartisan) | 20.1 | 19,461 | |
| ✔ | Michael Carter (Nonpartisan) | 18.4 | 17,801 | |
| ✔ | Debra Gerkin (Nonpartisan) | 17.9 | 17,291 | |
| ✔ | Tramaine Duncan (Nonpartisan) | 15.2 | 14,751 | |
| Christy Cummings (Nonpartisan) | 14.5 | 14,047 | ||
| Danielle Tomwing (Nonpartisan) | 13.9 | 13,485 | ||
| Total votes: 96,836 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Marques A. Ivey (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew)
Endorsements
To view Keke's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Anne Keke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Keke's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Anne Keke is a native of Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). Her parents raised her to believe that education is the most important tool for overcoming poverty. They inspired her to immigrate to the United States to further her education and the rest is history.
Anne arrived in Aurora, Colorado in 2001. She is an alumna of both the University of Colorado Denver and Colorado Technical University where she earned her Bachelor’s, Master’s and lastly her Doctorate degree in criminal justice. While immersing herself fully into the community she now serves as a teacher, Anne fell in love with Aurora. As one of the most diverse cities in the nation, the vibrancy of it’s many communities, the beauty of parks and wildlife and the youth who make up the city, is the reason she decided to make Aurora her home.
- It’s clear that far too many of APS’s students are not getting the education they need or deserve. While there have been improvements, reading and math literacy are far from acceptable, while graduation and matriculation rates are still below the state averages. These results are considerably worse for students from marginalized communities and are representative of the gaps in opportunity and achievement that plague not only our district but the state and the country. After a year of COVID shutdowns it is unlikely that without drastic interventions that these metrics will improve. As a board member I will be focused on addressing the challenges
- As a teacher, I have seen first-hand the struggles of teachers within the education system. I am aware that these challenges lead to burnout and great educators exiting the profession. I also understand that the financial incentives to join the teacher workforce are greatly lacking. Finally, while 83% of APS enrollment is made up of students of color, the vast majority of teachers do not reflect that diversity. While many of these issues are frankly beyond the ability of a school board member or the district to confront, there are places where I believe I can make a difference. As a board member, I will advocate for adjusting hiring and recruitment practices to seek more teachers of color in APS. I will always be open to meeting with APS
- The evidence that students did miss out on learning due to the COVID pandemic continues to accumulate while, unfortunately, the plans to address what was lost remain woefully inadequate. I acknowledge all of the effort that educators have put in to helping students during the last year of crisis and thank them for the efforts. As a teacher myself, I know how hard the work has been. It is frustrating to see that despite our best efforts, many students are behind and falling further behind. Pretending that this is not the case does not help our students. Rather than being divided, addressing these needs provides an opportunity for our education system to truly unite with the community. As a board member, I will encourage the district to us
Education, Criminal Justice.
The buck stops with the school board. Therefore, we must hold ourselves as a board accountable for the areas in which Aurora Public Schools currently is not serving families. The board has one employee: the superintendent. The board must be clear in outlining a vision for the district and directing the superintendent to make day-to-day decisions that reflect that vision.
This vision must be developed in partnership with the community. I believe that students, families, and communities are Aurora’s most important assets in improving results for all students in the district. I am running to represent them, because when we do more to listen and invite the community into the discussion and decision making, we will build a better, stronger education system.
Students, families, the community, educators, and staff.
I think the biggest issue facing APS today is inequities in the quality of education depending on where students live. We know that our city and district suffers from an inequitable distribution of resources with some parts being particularly well off and others not as much. Unfortunately the quality of education in the district seems to be divided along these same lines, and these inequities were only heightened by the pandemic. I am hopeful that in my work as a board member I will be able to highlight the inequities and support policies that target resources in a way that helps all students succeed. We should be able to bring our different communities together by recognizing that the needs of our children are not so different, but that the way we provide for them is. With board leadership we can do more to bring the broader community together and close these gaps.
I think the biggest issue facing APS today is inequities in the quality of education depending on where students live. We know that our city and district suffers from an inequitable distribution of resources with some parts being particularly well off and others not as much. Unfortunately the quality of education in the district seems to be divided along these same lines, and these inequities were only heightened by the pandemic. I am hopeful that in my work as a board member I will be able to highlight the inequities and support policies that target resources in a way that helps all students succeed. We should be able to bring our different communities together by recognizing that the needs of our children are not so different, but that the way we provide for them is. With board leadership we can do more to bring the broader community together and close these gaps.
As you’ll see on my website, this is one of my top priorities. As a teacher of color, I know the impact I can have on my students, whether it’s seeing someone that looks like them in the front of the classroom or pushing their thinking and relationships, the research has proven a more diverse teacher workforce is good for all students. Continuing to hire and retain teachers of color and a diverse workforce must remain a top priority for the district and will likely require going beyond the traditional educator recruitment pipeline. I would never have become an educator without alternative licensure opportunities provided by my school. I will push the district to not only focus on doing more to have diverse hiring pools, but to provide the support necessary to retain strong teachers of color that join the district.
I know as a teacher that not ALL of our students want to go to college, moreover, there is a high demand for apprenticeship and Technical Careers such as Healthcare, Welding and construction. Aps has already partnered with Pickens Technical College to train students who would like to take the Career Technical route. This needs to be promoted better and more of these programs offered in our high schools.
Restorative practices are needed in our schools, it gives students a voice and an opportunity to advocate for themselves, teaches them accountability and helps them feel safe when conducted properly. I am a restorative justice coordination myself, so I know it works.
Mental health in our schools can no longer be ignore. The success story her is that APS has hired 258 mental health workers. We need to make sure that these employees are equally spreader among our schools across the district. These mental heath workers need to start work right away and make sure that our students get a sense of normalcy. Moreover, students need to be encouraged by parents and community members to participate in social activities and extra curricular activities which are proven to help the mental being of children.
Our staff and faculty, need to be encouraged to talk about their feelings, fears, and emotions to professionals as well. Aurora Mental Heath Center provides services to faculty and staff at no cost in Aurora and other school districts.
Our staff and faculty, need to be encouraged to talk about their feelings, fears, and emotions to professionals as well. Aurora Mental Heath Center provides services to faculty and staff at no cost in Aurora and other school districts.
I am focused on moving the district forward. I wish the board had been more bold in the steps that it took. The past year and a half exposed many inequities that previously existed and it is the board’s responsibility to do everything in its power to address those inequities. I believe the board spent too much time discussing issues like pay for board members, adult fights, and other non-student related matters. The focus should always be on students and I will do my utmost as a board member to ensure that conflict amongst adults takes a back seat to the needs of our students.
When it comes to the public health guidance in APS I am 100% supportive of the steps the district has taken to ensure student and educator safety. I am on the record as saying that students should be in school in person full time. As an educator I’ve seen first hand how the pandemic disrupted learning. This disruption isn’t anyone’s fault, it’s just the reality of a system that was not prepared to ensure student success in remote learning, and that was set up to be face to face in a classroom setting. The district, and all of us in the community, need to do whatever it takes to support our schools and students and ensure they are getting the education they need, masks and vaccines are key components of that.
When it comes to the public health guidance in APS I am 100% supportive of the steps the district has taken to ensure student and educator safety. I am on the record as saying that students should be in school in person full time. As an educator I’ve seen first hand how the pandemic disrupted learning. This disruption isn’t anyone’s fault, it’s just the reality of a system that was not prepared to ensure student success in remote learning, and that was set up to be face to face in a classroom setting. The district, and all of us in the community, need to do whatever it takes to support our schools and students and ensure they are getting the education they need, masks and vaccines are key components of that.
Right now, we have a major problem in Aurora Public Schools (and in other districts, I am sure), with parents being completely disengaged from their children’s schools and learning. I believe that to address this, it is past time to begin providing these parents, as well as students, with a direct and immediate role in the co-creation of what is taught in schools and how it is taught.
By co-creation I mean that our schools and districts must stop ignoring their students and parents, or stop going to them after decisions have been made on their behalf and seeking to buy them in.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Keke submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on November 1, 2021.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
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Candidate Aurora Public Schools Board of Education At-large |
Personal |
Footnotes
