Patti has spent the first weeks of her campaign face to face with her community. When it comes to this area, Patti spends much of her time supporting the children, parents and residents of District 7. This past weekend, she visited Half-Time Pizza in Powell to talk with the parents of some of Powell's future ball players at Spring sign-ups.

"It has been really great getting to catch up with people," Patti said on Sunday. " Seeing people like Dan and Martha Raper last week has been one of the biggest pleasures of this campaign so far."
Interview of the week: community
America should be proud that we have a public education system that provides educational opportunities for all citizens. Setting high curricular standards helps insure that all communities within the Knox County system have the same academic standards.
If KCS remains committed to high standards across the system, the graduating population will be better prepared to succeed in college and career work without remediation. This directly opens the door for city and county leaders to attract the kinds of businesses looking for a better educated populace.
What are the benefits of public education in the community?
I have long supported parents choosing the best education path for their children whether it be private, public, or in the home. One reason I value our public schools is that quality public education exposes students to a wide variety of teachers and instruction techniques. Exposure to these instructors with their varied styles will hopefully better enable students to interact maturely with others when they become adults. The beauty of public education is that everyone is there: children of doctors, entrepreneurs, lawyers, farmers, teachers, and the unemployed. The hope of public education extends far beyond standardized instruction. Ideally, it matures students to accept others with different personalities and backgrounds. That kind of acceptance makes our community stronger.
For my family, public education has provided each of my children opportunities to excel academically, athletically, and in community service. They were proud of their school and truly believed they had some of the best teachers and coaches around. Tommy and I will always be indebted to the hard work and discipline those educators poured into each of our children's lives. I do and will continue to make sure teachers, mentors, counselors and coaches like these know how valuable they are.
What are the benefits of community on public education?
Community is more than town boundaries or school colors. It's identity. It's class reunions and connections that span the decades. It's the pride in sports teams and marching bands and drama productions, community history and preservation. It's churches and ballfields and favorite hangouts. Community is very often a statement of collective values. I'm proud to say that the communities of District 7 value family. Because they value families, they should have access and input into their schools and school systems. I believe I hold the same values as the 7th district citizens and will work to represent those core beliefs.
Our Guest Interviewer is Mrs. Julie St. Clair- former Literacy Coordinator Oak Ridge City Schools and former KCS Reading and Language Arts Instructional Coach