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Tammy James-Pino's life is centered around education.

Currently, she is director of employment and education for the Colville Confederated Tribes and is running for the Position 1 seat on the Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors.

Her roots in education can be traced back to her earlier years, when she was a student at Lake Roosevelt.

A move took her to New Mexico, where she completed her high school years and got both a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of New Mexico.

She stayed and had a part-time teaching experience there, and later was on the faculty of Northwest Indian College near Bellingham, she said.

She was recruited from there for her current position with the Colville Tribes.

Pino has a son who is currently in the sixth grade at Lake Roosevelt Elementary School.

She says she sees a lot of strengths in our current system and would like to see programs that strengthen teachers so they don't feel that they have to move to achieve some of their personal goals.

"We need to grow our own by giving them the support they need," Pino stated.

At her current tribal position, Pino is over Head Start and other tribal education programs, she said.

Her degrees are in policy, planning and strategic leadership, things that she feels she has expertise in and that would be helpful on the local school board.

"My passion is education," Pino stated this week. "I think my experiences would provide a value-added contribution to the school board."

"I have worked well with Superintendent Paul Turner, and with the Office of Superintendent of Public Education (OSPI), and over the years have developed a network of professional educators," she stated.

"I want to see that we are using our limited resources well and that we develop partnerships where possible to extend our funds," Pino said.

"We must not lose track that the most important thing we do is for students. That way, we return education to our communities," Pino said.

"My son has had some excellent teachers, and we have some very good programs for kids, including our after-school activity and sports. I feel that we need to continue our work on emergency planning, better equip our students to participate and continue to improve our communications," Pino said.