From a different school of thought

Andrew Edwards

When Susan Henry’s children went to school, she went with them.

On the advice of a friend, she became a PTA volunteer at Courreges

Elementary School in Fountain Valley when her eldest son, Brian,

started kindergarten there.

“She said when your kids start school, you should go with them,”

Henry said.

The incumbent running for reelection to the Huntington Beach Union

High School District Board hasn’t regretted a day of it.

As her three children traveled the road from elementary school to

Fountain Valley High School, in the Huntington Beach Union High

School District, she switched gears slightly, moving from the PTA to

the Fountain Valley High School Foundation.

The foundation raises money for an assortment of enhancement

programs at the high school, like SAT preparation courses,

recognition for honor roll students and teacher grants to fill needs

in the classroom. The group is like a booster club, except it’s focus

is academics instead of athletics.

The foundation’s secretary, Lillian Williams, credited Henry for

getting the group back on its feet in 1996.

“Susan was really responsible for resurrecting the foundation,”

Williams said, recalling how Henry worked tirelessly to connect with

motivated parents who were willing to rebuild the foundation.

“She’s a very hard worker,” Williams said. “On any project she

works on, she follows through.”

Henry is still a director of the foundation, and her husband Kim

is president. Their older children, Brian and Sara, have graduated

from high school and attend Boston University and Golden West

College. Their youngest, Keith, is a senior at Fountain Valley.

Henry’s heavy involvement with volunteer groups, and regular

presence at school board meetings, helped push her to run for the

school board in 2000. The Henry family held a family meeting when she

was thinking about running, and her daughter encouraged her to run.

“She said, ‘Mom, you’re going to all the meetings anyway, why

don’t you have a vote?’” Henry said.

During the course of a typical day, Henry said she answers several

calls from parents with concerns about the district, often about

athletics. Her duties on the board are more than just going to

meetings and talking on the phone. Henry said she had many rewarding

experiences volunteering when her children were young, and still

enjoys attending events at the high schools.