Board Member Also Serves as Delegate to State School Board Association

Pat Hacker is the newest member of the .

Hacker joined the school board team in April 2010 after working for the medical industry for approximately 17 years.

“I have worked in pharmaceutical, and I did 15 years in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit),” Hacker said. “I was a clinical educator in the hospital, so I would teach new nurses how to be good nurses when they came into the hospital,” she said.

Hacker said it was her volunteer work for the district that inspired her to become a board member.

“I’ve been a parent and have volunteered in the district for 17 years. I have three children, and two of them are now in college,” she said.

Currently, Hacker is one of seven that make up the Wentzville school board. Each member carries a three-year term on his or her seat. However, each year the board votes on an officer who only carries a one-year term.

Along with her local responsibility, Hacker is also a delegate to the Missouri School Boards Association (MSBA).

“Being a delegate to the state board, I inform my local board of events and issues and attend the meeting during our state convention,” she said. But Hacker said her biggest responsibility goes to her local school board.

“My responsibilities for my community are by far one of the most important things to me. I not only help in governing the district, but I’m able to put student achievements first,” Hacker said.

Hacker loves the challenge involved with education. She said she has enjoyed meeting the people that make up the community and the school district.

“I also enjoy working with teachers because they are in their profession for the children only,” she said.

She also works on community engagement programs such as Guiding Principles for our Schools (GPS).

“This program encompasses the planning of student growth within the district," she said. "This is partially due to the phenomenal growth we are experiencing now. We do live in the fastest growing school district in the state.”

By inviting the community to meet and discuss the issues going on within the district, Hacker said the board can get the community involved and gather input on what parents would like to see administrators act on.

“We want their input to better make decisions as administrators in the school board,” she said.

As a whole, Hacker said, the Wentzville school district focuses diligently on student achievement. The school district uses the required Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test as a gauge of student progress.

Hacker said she really wants to see both the community and the board working together in an effort to give the children the best quality of education possible.

“We can’t let the growth be a hindrance. We can take it on as a challenge and the key really is getting the community involved and embracing the growth,” she said.