About Me

I grew up in the Ashwaubenon School District, attending Valley View, Parkview Middle School and finally Ashwaubenon High School where I graduated in 1990. It was a pretty modest district in the late 70s and 80s, back when Lambeau was a plain oval and the only bit of heat was found in the restroom. I was the last of nine kids and since technology wasn't really a thing, you'd find me at a baseball diamond every day in summer or shoveling the driveway in winter so I could shoot a game of hoops with the Gillis Park crew.

In the 4th grade I was introduced to wrestling by Ashwaubenon star Kip Miller in a gym class. It's amazing how much influence a sport can have, especially one I wasn't very good at in my younger years. Fast forward to high school, where I had the honor of being coached by Carl Schwendler, who was also my math teacher. Not only did he mold me into a State qualifying wrestler, but he taught me that quiet, modest people can be leaders, too. I received the Coaches Award my junior and senior years, which are probably my most proud achievements as a wrestler.

During my college years, I spent some time at UWGB and then transferred to UW-Stout, where I juggled wrestling, numerous side jobs and a heavy course load in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. Yet I felt something was missing that could tie up loose ends, so in the Fall of ’93 I enlisted in the US Army Reserves. I'll expand upon my military career in another post, but it was one of the best decisions of my life. It helped bridge the financial gap and in the Fall of ’97 I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics with both Computer Science and Business Finance concentrations, not to mention immeasurable experiences to last a lifetime. In true-to-myself form, where I just can’t help but delve as deep as possible, I earned my Masters in Computer Information Systems in 2005.

I enjoy being a Database Administrator so much that I still haven't left the technological trenches. I work with data and metrics on a regular basis, where trend and performance analysis are part of my regular routine. In March of '20, my analytical skills met an unexpected challenge that to this day still continues: understanding the mountains of data that are related to the pandemic. On one hand I was trying to put the data in context for my own understanding. On the other I was perplexed and troubled by much of what was going on in response to the virus.

The disparity that exists between the pandemic analytics and the responses to it are what brought me here today. I have presented data to our school board that suggests many of the policies were not supported by data. When our children were in "virtual learning", many parents had to adjust their careers, businesses had to adjust their models, and so on. Another product of virtual learning has been social fragility, community divisions, learning loss, and much more. All considered, the cure has been worse than the disease, in the context of our children.

Now is the time to start mending some of those wounds. We have to build a foundation on which every member of our community communicates together rather than dividing. Upon that foundation we then craft a strategy to make up for lost learning and mend mental health. We set expectations such that we can quantify our successes and failures with data, not arbitrary thoughts, headlines or surveys. That's why I'm here, and I hope you're ready to join me.

If you made it here, thanks for taking the time!

Allen