By: Megan Yang
Christopher Pope was raised in the valley. He completed all of his schooling, kindergarten through high school, in Orosi. Pope is married and is “blessed with four wonderful children”. He retired in August after teaching for twenty-two years.
Pope is running for Visalia Unified School Board because of his “passion for [the] students”. He “believes that [his] twenty-two years in the classroom” will provide him with “insight and perspective” to make the “best decisions for the students, parents, school employees and the whole community”.
He says his “experience makes [him] the most qualified candidate” because out of the seven members on the school board, there are only two members that have classroom experience. He says, “We need more insight from members on the board that have real experience in the classroom”. In Pope’s twenty-two years of working he has, “been in trenches working with students, collaborating with staff, and listening to parents”.
Pope’s priorities he “will focus on when [elected]” is that “all students should be reading at grade level by the end of 3rd grade”. Pope says, “This can be accomplished by having a reading specialist at every elementary site”. He says, “we need to work on behavior in the classroom” because teachers struggle when “students with behavior issues constantly interrupt”.
His final goal is to promote Career Technical Training. “Not all students will pursue a college degree, but they deserve a promising future,” Pope says.
Christopher Pope is running for the District 6 seat. Elections are on November 3rd.
Megan Yang
Megan Yang ('24) is in her 4th year of Journalism. She is a writer and editor for the News section and enjoys writing for the Redwood Gigantea.
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