This story is a part of The Central Times’ coverage of the 2023 Board of Education election. The election will take place on April 4. For more information, click here.

Kristine Gericke is one of five candidates running for a seat on District 203’s Board of Education in the 2023 Consolidated DuPage County elections. Gericke is currently the board’s Vice President, and is one of two incumbents running for re-election. 

Gericke joined the board after winning the 2017 special election for a two-year term to fill the seat of Suzyn Price, who had resigned the year prior. In 2019, she was elected to her first full 4-year term. 

“I’ve always wanted to be in the education world,” Gericke said. “Life kind of took a different path for me, so I never taught full time, but I stayed active in different parts of the education world. I knew at a certain point in my adult life that I wanted to be in public service.”

Gericke studied history with a minor in secondary education while at North Central College. During her time at North Central, she student-taught at Naperville North and Washington Junior High. Gericke moved to Naperville to raise her kids, who are graduates of Naperville North.

“Our district is just exceptional,” Gericke said. “I want to continue fostering kids through their school years and helping them find their own passions, and getting them ready for the world that they’re gonna enter into when they graduate.”

Looking back on the past six years she has spent on the board, Gericke says that Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs in District 203’s curriculum are one of her proudest achievements. 

“I see SEL as this long process and initiative,” Gericke said. “I think the SEL work that we were doing before the pandemic was a great asset for us during the time and now as we’re coming out of it. It helped us navigate the challenges of the pandemic and it [has] helped us with recovering any learning loss and getting our students back in the building. It’s paying dividends for us, and I’m very proud that there was foresight and willingness to make that a constant part of our students’ education.”

If re-elected, Gericke wants to focus on interacting with students.

“I’m really excited about our engagement with students,” Gericke said. “Really trying to capture student voices to better understand how their experiences are in school right now.”

Click here for CT’s full conversation with Gericke, or here for full coverage of the election.