Agda Burchard left Southern California nearly two decades ago to earn her teaching credentials at the University of Washington.

Burchard liked it so much here, she stayed, settling in Kent where she has raised her daughter who will be a sophomore at Kentwood High in the fall.

Her extensive background in education was one of the reasons the Kent School Board of Directors chose her to serve in Position No. 4 which was recently vacated by Bill Boyce, who resigned after 16 years to focus on his new duties with the Kent City Council.

“It’s long been my goal to be part of the school board because I care about kids and education,” Burchard said. “I thought the school board was a good match for my experience and expertise.”

After finishing at UW Burchard worked as a substitute teacher for a time before spending four years as a director of a child care center.

The past 18 years she worked for the Washington Association for the Education of Young Children, a non-profit which focused on providing professional development and advocacy for early childhood educators, Burchard said.

She left her post as executive director in April.

Timing played a part in her decision to apply for the school board.

While she is looking for a new job that will be a good fit for her, Burchard said, she also recently finished a two-year term as president of the Kent Area PTA Council.

Since she has more time to give, it seemed like this was a great opportunity to pursue, particularly because Burchard said she has a deep interest in the work the school board does.

“I have a passion and expertise in policy work,” she said. “I have a particular interest in alignment from pre-school to third grade … because I do have a lot of experience and background in K-12 as well as … early childhood education.”

After Boyce resigned from the school board and Burchard decided to apply for the position, she said met with a number of people as well as groups in the community to find out what works well and what doesn’t in the district. She said she got a bounty of good feedback.

In addition, as she prepared for her new role with the school board, Burchard said she spent a lot of time thinking about and talking about the diversity in the district.

It is a blessing for students to have the opportunity to learn from their peers who come from a wide range of socioeconomic and racial backgrounds because it prepares them for what they will face later in life, she said.

Yet, it can be a challenge for teachers to provide support to that wide range of students on an ever-shrinking budget, Burchard said.

Many educators find a way, though.

“We have amazing teachers in the district,” she said. “We have a high number of national board certified teachers.”

Burchard has also been active in the district since her daughter started school 10 years ago while at the same time serving as a Girl Scout leader when her daughter signed up as a kindergartener.

In addition, she was on the district’s strategic plan committee, so Burchard is excited to play a part in how that plan is put into practice.

At her first board meeting June 27 district staff gave a presentation on the status of the strategic plan, which Burchard thought was the perfect way for her to start her term, which runs through November 2013.

Often, she explained, after a strategic plan is developed it sits on the shelf and no one looks at it. In the Kent School District, however, “the strategic plan … it’s really a living, breathing document.”

“I’m not coming in with a particular agenda,” she said. “My goal is to help the kids … to increase their academic achievement. I definitely think there are things the district needs to change but those are all outlined in the strategic plan.”