"Your  voice, your choice"

   Dear Friends,
     Before I ask you to help me again I want to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation for all you have done to place me in the Run-Off Election which will take place on Tuesday, August 5th.
with early voting will beginning Monday, the week of July 28th.
 
     I am profoundly humbled by what we were able to accomplish in the July 15th Primary and it is nothing short of a miracle...on a shoestring! It was ONLY through your efforts that we have been given the opportunity to prevail in the upcoming Run-Off.

     For those of you who don't already know me, please allow me to introduce myself. For those of you who do and have given me your support, encouragment and votes, please share this with as many of your community friends, family and neighbors as may be interested.
 
    My name is Vicki Griffin and I am a candidate to Represent Post 5 on the Cobb County School Board. Post 5 includes Addison, Davis, Garrison Mill, Kincaid, Mountain View, Murdock, Rocky Mount, Tritt and Shallowford Falls Elementary Schools. Hightower Trail, Mabry and Simpson Middle Schools as well as Pope, Lassiter and Sprayberry High Schools.
 
     I am a life-long Republican and I have lived in East Cobb, Post 5, for a total of 18 years now. I have two sons and both have attended Post 5 schools throughout their educational careers. Jeff is a rising Lassiter High School freshman. Steven, an '06 graduate of  Lassiter, is now a  junior at the University of Georgia in Athens, where he maintains his HOPE Scholarship.
 
     I earned Bachelor of Science degrees in both Business Administration and Mass Communication at Towson State University in Towson, Maryland. Towson has a solid reputation as a premier teaching college. I attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland for graduate studies through their Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences. My work today parallels my college days in that I worked my way through college as a substitute teacher for Baltimore City Public Schools, and as a bank teller. Today I am a substitute teacher with the Cobb County School District and a cashier for a neighborhood grocery store.
 
     I am a reader and scorer of standardized test essays for Educational Testing Services, Inc., of Princeton, New Jersey. I have worked in education in many and various capacities over the years, from teaching at my alma mater as a Visiting Instructor, to teaching PreSchool at our church, St. Peter & St. Paul Episcopal Church in Marietta.
 
     When we first moved here St. Peter and St. Paul was being built, as was Garrison Mill Elementary School. In fact, Garrison Mill would have been our elementary school had we remained in our first home. But careers forced the move and we were off to Michigan and California...before returning 'home' to East Cobb.
 
     I already have  a long-term, deep and committed relationship with so many of the schools in my Post. Both of my sons attended Shallowford Falls Elementary School, from kindergarten through 5th grade, 12 years as an active, caring and invloved parent there, plus the time I spent working as their Lunch Monitor. I also served for many years as PTSA Chair for the Recycling Committee, Earth Week and Hearing & Vision Screenings, as well as helping promote Character Education. Our Earth Week activities won national recognition and a cash prize!
 
     During the six years my sons attended Simpson Middle School, I found time to volunteer and serve in many capacities there, as well. I Chaired the Hearing & Vision Screenings for the PTSA, as well as volunteering as a POD Parent, chaperone for field trips and helping out in the Front Office.
 
     As my youngest son is a rising Lassiter freshman, I have continued to keep students, families, faculty and administrators aware of the various legislative happenings as their PTSA Legislative Chair. I was honored to serve even when I was 'between' students attending. And I have alos enjoyed volunteering my time in both the Pupil Personnel and Guidance Offices.
 
     But I have not limited my service to only my children's schools. I have recent and on-going relationships with other schools in our Post as well. I served as Lunch Monitor for Rocky Mount Elementary Schoolprior to joining the Shallowford Falls staff. I still remember fondly so many of the students, parents, teachers and administrators I came to know, as well as the wonderful people I worked with.
 
     As a substitute teacher I have come to know so many of your children, while working in our schools. I mainly substitute in our middle and high schools. This is not because I don't enjoy the company of our youngest students, because I certainly do! But rather because, as the parent of a middle school teen, I felt it important that I work as much on his schedule as I was able. And I want to share with you that the students I've had the ppleasure of working with at Hightower Trail, Mabry, Simpson, Pope, Lassiter and Sprayberry are delightful. They are overwhelmingly polite, helpful, productive, courteous and respectful toward each other and me. And I know this is not by accident. These students are wonderful as a direct result of the support and expectations of their parents and teachers and the schools they attend.
 
 
     I am so excited to have the opportunity to further serve our community, our neighborhood schools, all of our children, as your Post 5 Representative. But I need your help, once again. I am not a politician and I have no powerful connections or money. But I sincerely hope that I have your support because experience has shown me that's really all that's ever needed. Afterall, we PTSA families, Team Moms & Dads & Coaches, Centers & POD Parents perform miracles on a shoestring everyday...and that's EXACTLY what we did on TUESDAY, JULY 15th...!!! Because here I am, a candidate in the upcoming RUN-OFF ELECTION on Tuesday, August 5th.
 
    Again, I am asking for your goodwill and positive frequent word of mouth to help spread the word exponentially...to other PTSA parents and families, neighborhood, sports clubs, civic and church groups...let them know I'm running & tell them about me. Share your information with them so they may decide for themselves. I appreciate your efforts on my behalf and welcome the opportunity to meet with everyone and talk about changes they'd like to see happen, good things they'd like expanded, whatever is on their minds in terms of our schools, our children. Please continue to spread the word. I value and respect everyone's ideas, input, opinions, thoughts, ideas and vision.