Hello!

My name is Kim Moran and thank you for taking the time to get to know me. I live with my husband, Mike, and my two kids, Marissa (10) and Michael (8) in Suamico. My kids attend Suamico Elementary. In my free time, I enjoy volunteering at the school, adventuring outside, spending time with my family, raising monarch butterflies in the summer, and doing any kind of art or craft project with my kids.

Ever since I was in 2nd grade, I wanted to become a teacher. I went to college at the University of Minnesota where I received my Bachelor’s in Elementary Education. After graduate school, I moved back to Wisconsin where I began my teaching career in the Pulaski Community School District. Shortly after teaching, I earned my Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. During my teaching career, I taught a variety of grades in three different elementary schools. I spent most of time teaching 1st grade. As a teacher, I discovered the importance of building connections with students and families and making sure that I met each student where they were at. During this time I also worked for a math curriculum company traveling around the country to train other teachers on how to implement the math curriculum in their classrooms. When I had my daughter in 2015, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to stay home to raise her.

Once the students returned to school after COVID, I started subbing in the Howard Suamico School District and the Pulaski Community School District. This was my first time back in the classroom since I left teaching in 2015. Transitioning back from COVID definitely had its challenges. Teachers did the best they could to deal with the challenges and learning gaps. Over the next few years, I noticed a shift in education, more was expected from kids even though it may not be developmentally appropriate for each student. I saw kids with more anxiety, frustration, and the inability to regulate themselves. I quickly realized that there weren’t enough resources in place to support these students. I realized that there were learning gaps as soon as the kids entered kindergarten and resources once again weren’t available for everyone that needed it. This really started to concern me and started to make me think what needs to change to help these students. How can I help these students? How can I be a voice for the students, teachers, and families?

As things were getting back to normal, I could tell that the school community was dramatically impacted. Very few events were happening and not a lot of families were engaged. I knew that over the time that I would be at Suamico, I wanted to help the school community grow and become stronger. I became an active member of the PTO. Another mother and I volunteered to run the Sweetheart Auction and Carnival for the first time in several years and that was the start of bringing our families together again. Then, my goal was to have a family event each month so families had opportunities to come together as a school community. Some new events that we tried were “Bingo for Books”, Family Movie Nights at the De Pere Cinema, and our first school dance, “Dancing Thru the Decades”. This year, we adjusted our PTO meeting times/days along with offering our PTO meetings virtually which has led to more family engagement. Another goal as the PTO President was to reach out to families and see how we could find opportunities to get them involved based on their schedule and interests. Having more families engaged has made such a positive impact at Suamico!

This year, I was lucky enough to be a substitute teacher at Suamico Elementary every Wednesday and Friday. I feel so lucky to be able to work with such an amazing principal and an awesome group of teachers, students, and families. Every person in our building wants what is best for the students, but we don’t have enough resources to support our students to the best of our abilities. I keep getting feedback that something needs to change and something needs to happen from families and teachers throughout the district. This is why I am running for the school board. I see that change needs to happen and that we can do better. I am a voice for the teachers, parents, families, and students. If you want someone who will work their hardest and help our district move in the right direction and become stronger, please vote for me on April 1st.