Tackling the issues head on

Angelique Flores

Starting out as a classroom volunteer, Susan Henry is now making a

difference behind the boardroom dais at Huntington Beach Union High

School District.

Henry, 44, was sworn in during Tuesday night’s organizational meeting

and will serve the district until 2004. She replaces Bonnie Bruce, who

decided not to run for reelection this year.

Henry has been involved in the educational community since her eldest

son began kindergarten about 12 years ago.

“She has always been an advocate for public education,” said Marc

Ecker, superintendent of Fountain Valley School District, who worked with

her while she was a PTA officer and alongside her as a parent.

From helping in the classroom to serving as PTA president for two

years each at Courreges Elementary and Masuda Middle schools, she decided

to step up her influence to the district level.

“I feel like I’ve put in enough time that I have a pretty good handle

of what’s going on in the district,” Henry said. “Having school-age

children, I bring that perspective to the board.”

The Fountain Valley woman and her husband, Kim, have three children:

Brian, 17, and Sara, 16, who attend Fountain Valley High School, and

Keith, 13, who attends Masuda Middle School.

Henry decided to run for the open seat on the high school board

because she has two children in the district and will have her youngest

there next year.

“She’s a very dedicated individual and very conscientious,” Ecker

said.

Henry’s involvement in local schools extends from volunteering with

fund-raising programs and serving as president of the superintendent’s

council to serving as president of the Fountain Valley High School

Foundation. She plans to step down from her post on the foundation to

avoid any appearances of being biased toward any of the district’s

schools.

Henry is also a member of the California Consortium on Education

Foundation and director of the Orange County Coalition of Public Schools

Foundations, an organization of educational groups that raises funds for

its members.

“I think that parent involvement is modeling,” Henry said. “Kids get

good grades if they understand the importance of it. By volunteering my

time, it shows my kids and other kids that if it’s important enough for

me to be involved, it’s important for them to do a good job.”

A licensed registered nurse, Henry decided not to juggle work and

family, and left the nursing field. She then did office work for her

husband’s engineering design firm until her children started school.

She’s now enrolled in a certificated fund-raising program at UC Irvine.

Before getting involved in the schools, Henry was a member of a

quilting guild, a social and philanthropic group. She collects antique

quilts and used to lecture on quilting. Her quilting skills have also

been featured in the film “How to Make an American Quilt,” when her

hands doubled for those of actress Jean Simmons during the quilting

scenes.

Lately, she has been devoting all her time to “getting up to speed”

with the district’s issues. She plans to focus on technology and continue

working with foundations.

“My experience with the educational community is a positive one, and I

want to add to it and make other people’s experience as positive as mine

has been,” Henry said.