Shannon Johnson of Iliamna is running for Lake and Peninsula school board seat A as the incumbent. View her candidate profile and listen to her interview for local air on this page.
Name: Shannon Johnson
Age on October 3, 2023: 47
Occupation: Supervisor II
Previous Government Experience/ Community Involvement: I worked for 8 years with BBNA and the Traditional Council of Togiak as their ICWA/Tribal Children's Service worker and have spent my life as a lifelong advocate and volunteer for others and our beautiful rural area of Alaska.
Education: Newhalen School High School graduate and BA in social work - UAF
Immediate Family: Ahnnika and Johnna Nanalook-Daughters
Why are you running for the school board this election cycle?
I believe I am a very caring and passionate voice for the Lake and Peninsula School District. I have served three terms and I would like to continue to do the best I can to help and serve our students, families and schools. There is a lot to do, more advocating for future funding, working on getting opportunities for our youth, standing in the gaps for families, supporting our staff and district, [and] being present and engaged in our strategic planning and future of our schools.
What issues do you want to address and how do you plan to address them?
I would like to continue to see that our district is able to receive grants and funding support from the local, regional and state connections such as BBNA, BBNC, BBEDC, BBHA, and tribes. We need all the help we can get in this financial crisis. I want to continue to go to Juneau and voice our needs and share solutions to help us keep our schools open, funded and filled with happy staff and students.
Our district has come a long way and we have made improvements and been innovative in our planning; the Subsistence Calendar is one idea that has now been used by other districts in Alaska. We also have the CTE program that has 3 other districts in partnership to help offer vocational training to all our Bristol Bay students. Cultural programs are being interwoven into our curriculum. We are super proud of that and our staff are working aligned with cultural experts to offer the best education for all students. We also fund preschool, and that's one area we are very proud of and we need to keep it alive and sustainable for our future children's children.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I appreciate all those who have supported me, pushed me to speak up and be present, for those that believe in me and want to see me continue to serve on the LPSD School Board.
KDLG reached out to each candidate with the opportunity to complete a candidate profile through a questionnaire. The questionnaire’s questions and candidate responses are included here, with minor edits for grammar only.
Get in touch with the author at christina@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
