Brian Coram
From Ballotpedia
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Brian Coram ran for election for an at-large seat of the Academy School District 20 school board in Colorado. He lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Coram completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Brian Coram was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He earned a bachelor's degree from Colorado State University in 2005. He earned a graduate degree from Kansas State University in 2008. He earned a graduate degree from Adams State University in 2014.[1]
Elections
2021
See also: Academy School District 20, Colorado, elections (2021)
General election
General election for Academy School District 20 school board, At-large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Academy School District 20 school board, At-large on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nicole Konz (Nonpartisan) | 18.2 | 17,118 | |
| ✔ | Thomas LaValley (Nonpartisan) | 17.8 | 16,832 | |
| ✔ | Aaron Salt (Nonpartisan) | 17.0 | 16,059 | |
| Jackie Lesh (Nonpartisan) | 10.5 | 9,893 | ||
| Tiana Clark (Nonpartisan) | 10.2 | 9,652 | ||
| Brian Coram (Nonpartisan) | 10.1 | 9,548 | ||
| Nathan Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 5.4 | 5,132 | ||
| Lindsay Moore (Nonpartisan) | 4.5 | 4,245 | ||
| Jason Silva (Nonpartisan) | 3.7 | 3,483 | ||
| Michael Riffle (Nonpartisan) | 2.5 | 2,338 | ||
| Total votes: 94,300 | ||||
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Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brian Coram completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Coram's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Growing up in the area as a D20 student myself, I began as a Frontier Elementary Eagle and completed his D20 education as a Liberty Lancer. I’ve been married to my wife, Sam, for 14 years and we have two children currently attending D20 schools. I have a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and two Master’s degrees in school counseling and Family Studies with an emphasis on youth development. After leaving undergrad at Colorado State University, I utilized my education to work in various youth programs, including positions with El Paso County and the State of Colorado providing counseling, guidance and resources to individuals. Presently, I work in real estate, and have earned distinction as a Peak Producer, the 10% of agents in the region. I am a highly collaborative leader, and I prefer to draw upon my diverse background in counseling to understand the needs of my constituents; and work in their best interest to identify and implement meaningful solutions.
- As a board member, I’ll leverage my extensive counseling experience and insight to support the emotional, psychological and mental health of D20 kids.
- I believe that supporting our educators is key to the D20 mission of educating and inspiring all students to thrive.
- I want to encourage and support the goal of including all people and voices in the conversation. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion lead to better outcomes and growth for every student.
Coming from a mental health background, I am passionate about what the day in and day out impact schools have on our students. Students that feel like they are included, and can be authentically themselves tend to have better outcomes. Students that are exposed to varying perspectives and backgrounds tend to have better outcomes.
I am passionate about preparing our students for beyond our school walls. It is important to me that they learn how to think critically, to evaluate sources and learn media literacy. As a tech driven person myself, I understand that we are dealing with challenges we have not seen in past years, and that we need to adapt to meeting the needs of our students now and for the foreseeable future.
I am passionate about preparing our students for beyond our school walls. It is important to me that they learn how to think critically, to evaluate sources and learn media literacy. As a tech driven person myself, I understand that we are dealing with challenges we have not seen in past years, and that we need to adapt to meeting the needs of our students now and for the foreseeable future.
While I have many role models, I think one of the most influential people in my life has been Eric Jessup-Anger, a Hall Director while I was a Resident Assistant at Colorado State University. Eric is the sort of leader that seeks to develop the qualities in those he leads. While faced with difficult situations, he approaches the dilemma as just that, the dilemma, and doesn’t attach that stigma to those causing the problem. Eric also seeks to understand the greatness in every person he meets, and treats them as such. In short, there is no one that doesn’t have worth or value. Even those that would vehemently disagree with him, would find that he would still extend his hand in cooperation and friendship.
Meeting Eric changed the way I approached some facets of leadership and learned how to focus on solving the problem, rather than seeing a differing opinion as nothing more than opposition.
Meeting Eric changed the way I approached some facets of leadership and learned how to focus on solving the problem, rather than seeing a differing opinion as nothing more than opposition.
Any elected official, in my opinion, should be somewhat hesitant to fulfill the role. Public service, as the original intent, was to have citizens fulfill the role for a time before returning to their “day job.” I believe that it is critical then, that the role is filled by someone who is truly volunteering to serve and not to bring an agenda, and to do what’s best for the population they serve, the students in this case, despite their own personal thoughts. While I am aware that I have personal bias (and everyone does), I intend to listen and learn in order to better serve all students.
Where the Red Fern Grows. Growing up, I felt like Billy in his desire for dogs. I didn’t have to do what he did to get my first pups (My parents are allergic, so some serious sacrifices were made!) but it’s a story of love. It’s also a reminder that even when you feel lost and bad things occur (I’m trying not to spoil it here!), that building a resilience and having supports, whether four legged or human, can get you through, Old Dan and Little Ann are examples of what love can do and how the ones we love are always worth fighting for.
The primary role of a school board member should be to develop policies in order to best serve the entire student body.
In short, by listening to their stories and developing a pathway to create more diverse, equitable and inclusive practices.
I’m reminded of the Yellow Ribbon story in how one small gesture can impact a life. The culture we create as a district and mission we follow should be seen in every school. That means an environment where all students can thrive. This is too broad a question to answer without more evaluation and reflection as mental health needs especially aren’t a one size fits all approach.
Media Literacy is only one aspect of technology, but it’s a critical one right now. Information is quickly created and disseminated and it’s important that students learn how to evaluate and think critically about what information they come across. I think it is important for students to be well versed in matters of technology as that is what the world beyond the school yard will bear. To do this, I’d want to evaluate where we stand as a district and how we can grow as I don’t think we’re lacking in technology, but more so it’s overall use. Developing real world applications in classes and programs would be an amazing advantage to our students.
I’d love to see more parent involvement! Implementing and further utilizing programs such as the D20 parent academies would be a good start. I am always open to conversations to hear a perspective I haven’t thought of or experienced yet.
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.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 26, 2021
