Burroughs aims to close gap
By: David Crow, Staff writer
Issue date: 10/5/07 Section: City
With background in nonprofit youth advocacy groups and experience as an amateur school district historian, Mia Burroughs is ready for her first school board election.
The first-time candidate is one of five running for four seats on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education.
"The issue that interests me most is that all our students achieve the most of their potential," she said.
"We live in a world now where it is not OK for some kids to fail, and it is not OK for some kids to underachieve from their potential."
Burroughs wants to help students by closing the minority achievement gap and creating professional learning communities.
Professional learning communities allow teachers to organize by subject and assess themselves, and to make sure each student is learning the material so that they can help those who are not.
"She's passionate about reaching every child at every level, including the majority of children who fall in the middle," said Susan Schulz, one of Burroughs' campaign volunteers.
"I have known Mia for 10 years ... and I think what makes her really well-qualified is that she has a professional background in understanding certain behavior."
Burroughs' previous experience includes being a public policy advocate for Advocates for Youth in Washington, D.C.; for the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina in Raleigh; and for Planned Parenthood of Palm Beach and Broward counties in Florida.
She was also the chairwoman of the School Governance Committee at Estes Hills Elementary School during the 2005-06 school year.
Burroughs is a freelance grant writer for nonprofit organizations in the area. Although she has been moving in and out of the Triangle since she graduated from Duke University in 1983, Burroughs did not move to Chapel Hill until 1995.
"We wanted to be in a place with excellent schools," Burroughs said about coming into the area.
She and her husband have two daughters, one at East Chapel Hill High School and the other at Phillips Middle School.
Burroughs has been volunteering for the district since her first daughter attended kindergarten at Seawell Elementary School 10 years ago.
"I think all that volunteerism in the schools has given me a pretty solid feel for the district schools' strengths and weaknesses," she said.
Burroughs has volunteered to compile the school district's history.
"She really does many historical projects," Schulz said. "She gets a good sense about where our school system has been and has a good sense of where it is going."
The election is Nov. 6.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
The first-time candidate is one of five running for four seats on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education.
"The issue that interests me most is that all our students achieve the most of their potential," she said.
"We live in a world now where it is not OK for some kids to fail, and it is not OK for some kids to underachieve from their potential."
Burroughs wants to help students by closing the minority achievement gap and creating professional learning communities.
Professional learning communities allow teachers to organize by subject and assess themselves, and to make sure each student is learning the material so that they can help those who are not.
"She's passionate about reaching every child at every level, including the majority of children who fall in the middle," said Susan Schulz, one of Burroughs' campaign volunteers.
"I have known Mia for 10 years ... and I think what makes her really well-qualified is that she has a professional background in understanding certain behavior."
Burroughs' previous experience includes being a public policy advocate for Advocates for Youth in Washington, D.C.; for the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina in Raleigh; and for Planned Parenthood of Palm Beach and Broward counties in Florida.
She was also the chairwoman of the School Governance Committee at Estes Hills Elementary School during the 2005-06 school year.
Burroughs is a freelance grant writer for nonprofit organizations in the area. Although she has been moving in and out of the Triangle since she graduated from Duke University in 1983, Burroughs did not move to Chapel Hill until 1995.
"We wanted to be in a place with excellent schools," Burroughs said about coming into the area.
She and her husband have two daughters, one at East Chapel Hill High School and the other at Phillips Middle School.
Burroughs has been volunteering for the district since her first daughter attended kindergarten at Seawell Elementary School 10 years ago.
"I think all that volunteerism in the schools has given me a pretty solid feel for the district schools' strengths and weaknesses," she said.
Burroughs has volunteered to compile the school district's history.
"She really does many historical projects," Schulz said. "She gets a good sense about where our school system has been and has a good sense of where it is going."
The election is Nov. 6.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
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