TONY BABCOCK, District 1, INCUMBENT

Tell us a little about yourself personally; family, education, where you grew up

My name is Tony Babcock. I have been married to my wife, Annette, for 27 years. We have seven children, two grandchildren, and are eagerly anticipating two more grandchildren in the coming months. I am currently employed as the Regional Construction Manager for HR Green, Inc. in Johnston, IA, where I manage a team of construction inspectors and engineers. I graduated from Iowa State with a BS in Civil Engineering and am a licensed professional engineer in Iowa. I grew up in Gilbert and graduated from Gilbert High School.

Do you have school aged children?

I have four adult children, two South Hamilton alumni and three currently attending South Hamilton High School.

What is your professional background?

I am currently employed as the Regional Construction Manager for HR Green, Inc., in Johnston, IA, where I manage a team of construction inspectors and engineers. I graduated from Iowa State with a BS in Civil Engineering and am a licensed professional engineer in Iowa.

Why do you think you would be a good addition to the board?

I have been a membr of the board since December 2021. My goal is to work with my fellow board members to provide the direction necessary for South Hamilton to provide the best possible education for all students. My personal goals while being a member of the board have been to increase enrollment, decrease staff turnover, and provide stability in our administration.

What do you think is important as a member of the board?

I believe that a board member needs to be able to put aside their personal agendas and understand that some of the decisions we make have long-term impacts.

Do you feel the communications between the school system and families are adequate?

I believe that we, as a school district, have made significant improvements in our communications with families in the past 4-5 years. We use multiple platforms and delivery methods to try to communicate as effectively as possible. We are not perfect. When we make mistakes or find gaps in our communication, we make efforts to correct them.

TRAVIS ANDERSON, District 1

Tell us a little about yourself personally; family, education, where you grew up

I married my wife Lindsey in 2010. I graduated from South Hamilton in 2001, and received my AA from Iowa Central. I grew up in Jewell and lived here for most of my life. I lived in Des Moines from 2007-2011.

Do you have school aged children?

I have two children, Connor, 11 who is in 6th grade and Kaydence, 9 who is in the 4th grade.

What is your professional background?

I currently farm with my dad and brother.

When I lived in Des Moines I worked at The Homestead, which works with people who have autism. I then worked at Easter Seals for close to 4 years where I worked at a Day Hab program and then became a service coordinator. There I helped people with all types of disabilities get services they needed and helped them achieve goals they set for themselves. I met my wife while at Easter Seals.

Why do you think you would be a good addition to the board?

As a graduate of this school district and now a parent of two children currently in elementary school, I’m deeply invested in the future of our schools. I moved back to this community because I believe in it and I want this community and school district to thrive and continue to grow.

I’m running to bring fresh energy, accountability and student-centered priorities to the board, with a strong focus on strengthening athletics, supporting educators, and improving the overall student experience.

What do you think is important as a member of the board? What is the biggest issue facing the school district?

I think being available for anyone to contact or approach with questions, concerns and comments is a big issue. I personally think the size of the school is a big issue. When I was a student we had close to 70 kids in my class and others classes were big. Now class sizes are very low and people are moving away from South Hamilton. Gilbert, Roland Story and North Polk have all grown massively and they used to be in our conference. I understand they live closer to bigger towns and cities, I’m just pointing out they were our size years ago. They are now in 4A and we are a 1A school. I’d like to make South Hamilton a more desirable place for people to come and live and send their kids to school.

Do you have other issues you would like to bring to light or areas of concern?

One of my main goals is to advocate for better hiring practices, especially when it comes to coaching and extracurricular leadership. Athletics, music, band, cheerleading, and any extra activity play a huge role in shaping student confidence, discipline and teamwork. We need to do a better job supporting those programs.

I hope to be a voice for parents and students who feel unheard.

JAY MOLINE, District 4, UNOPPOSED

Tell us a little about yourself personally; family, education, where you grew up.

A lifelong Iowan, I moved to the South Hamilton District in 1998 after graduating from Iowa State University. I grew up and graduated from high school in Manson where my parents and brothers still farm full time. My wife and I have been married for 21 years and currently live outside of Jewell.

Do you have school aged children?

We have three children who have all attended South Hamilton. Our son Jack is a South Hamilton graduate and is currently a junior at Iowa State University. Our daughters both attend South Hamilton currently. Abby is a senior and Megan is a freshman.

What is your professional background?

I spent 28 years working for Danfoss, in engineering, leadership and sales roles, 18 of those years were as a people and sales leader. I am currently employed by Power Systems, a hydraulic products distributor. I also have a small farm near Ellsworth.

Why do you think you would be a good addition to the board?

I joined the South Hamilton board via appointment in December of 2019 and then was elected to a full term in November 2021. I have been very fortunate to have a wide range of leadership experience in my professional career and that experience proved valuable almost immediately. With COVID and a budget crisis occurring right after I joined the board, the challenges came really quickly.

For COVID, the first successful step was having a baseball and softball season in the summer of 2020. As odd as it sounds, the experience and learning from those seasons gave the school and the community confidence that we could have in-person school in the fall. Then we did have in-person school for all but a few days. The benefits of that in-person instruction is now evident in the progress of the students.

Related to the budget issues, after a few tough years and a lot of tough decisions, the financial situation at South Hamilton is stable and strong for now, the third straight year. As a result, we have been able to invest in our teachers and staff. This year we were able to add additional teachers in the elementary to help with some larger class sizes and workloads.

Facing those challenges and the urgency that surrounded them, allowed (required) me to become a very active board member immediately. While I would not have chosen to be thrown into the deep end to start, the experience has been very valuable. I am very engaged and focused on continuing to improve South Hamilton.

Do you have other issues you would like to bring to light or areas of concern?

I always encourage parents to come see what is going on at South Hamilton. Parental engagement is one of the best ways to ensure that a school and a community remain strong. It is, and I hope it remains, a strength of our South Hamilton district. Our kids are most definitely worth our time and effort.