By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Five candidates have filed for four open positions on the USD 428 Great Bend Board of Education that will be determined in the Nov. 7 general election. Four of those candidates took questions during a candidate forum at the Great Bend Senior Center Thursday evening.
Each of the four candidates answered two questions. Aaron Emerson, the current board vice president, has three children of his own in the district. As a former staff sergeant who spent eight years in the U.S. Army, including two deployments with a combat support hospital, and as a member on several local boards and committees, Emerson was pleased to answer the first question pertaining to how the district can increase student civic involvement.
"Civic engagement is very important to me," he said. "I'm involved in several groups. I always make sure my kids know what I'm doing. They're always asking, 'What are you doing, Dad?' If I can, I always try to take them along to get them started at a young age, to get them involved and show them what's out there for them."
Randy Wetzel is a Great Bend High School graduate and a longtime Great Bend resident. He recently retired after spending 20 years as an assistant principal at GBHS, and he saw how involved students are firsthand.
"Our kids we have at the high school I'm most familiar with did a great job with it," he said. "We have a lot of kids that are already involved with civic things. Kayettes are one, the football team was helping out with the food train on West 10th. There are plenty of opportunities for the kids, and they take them. Can we do more? Absolutely."
Karen Lindberg and Sara Williams also attended Thursday's forum at the Senior Center. Marcus Herrera has filed to run in the election but was absent Thursday. Comments from Lindberg and Williams will be featured in a story later this week.