A Mom on a Mission

A visionary with proven leadership, the ability to connect people and delegate responsibility to accomplish goals, and a history of breaking through the red tape to get stuff done.

Be a voice for parents…

Out of the seven members of the Wayne County Board of Education, exactly zero are moms of public school children. There is only one parent of school-aged children whose oldest child is in his Super Senior year in WCPS. His younger kids attend a private school outside the WCPS system.

We need stronger public school parent voices on our school board.

Of course, a local school board should have a variety of perspectives. Former educators, business leaders, and other community members all have something to bring to the table. But I think at least one person on the board which makes big-picture policy decisions about our students and our schools should be a mom of public school children.

If elected, I would bring the much-needed voice of public school parents, both moms and dads, to our local school board.

Give teachers and staff the support they need…

Our teachers and staff are the lifeblood of our public schools. They are the ones in the trenches every day with our kids, pouring their hearts and souls into not only educating students but showing them their value and loving them as their own.

For the last several years as PTA President at Spring Creek Elementary School, I have made it one of my biggest missions to make sure the teachers and staff are shown how much they are appreciated and to listen to their needs, struggles, and frustrations and think outside the box to do everything we could to help. 

If elected, I will bring that same passion and care to listening to and supporting teachers and staff at every school in Wayne County.

Be a bridge between board, staff, and community...

My goal is to facilitate open two way communication among the board, staff, parents, and community to work together towards innovative solutions which meet the needs of our diverse student population.

One of my biggest gifts is being able to connect with people from all different walks of life and bridge the divide between people who tend to disagree with one another.

Because of my listening ear, empathetic heart, ability to see other people's perspectives, and authentic concern for all people, I find myself being able to bring very different people together to accomplish so much more than any of us would ever be able to do on our own.

If elected, I think I would be able to help build bridges between all the different stakeholders in the public school system.

Instead of digging a deeper divide, I promise to work to bring people together. Not to meet in the middle and compromise, but to maximize all our diverse gifts and resources to serve our students.

Advocate for every student with the heart of a mom…

I have a history of advocating for the needs of students in our community. From raising funds to buy laptops for students who didn’t have them at home for virtual learning during the pandemic to advocating with the school board and county commissioners to move the school's car rider line to a safer location to prevent further car accidents to working to make sure our school still had a Battle of the Books team and Book Fair even when we didn't have a librarian to relentlessly pursuing solutions for our school's failing HVAC system to finding creative solutions for school safety issues to raising funds for needed upgrades to playground equipment and other improvements to supporting new programs and developing community-building events.

If elected, I will be a "mama-bear" kind of advocate for every child in Wayne County as if they were my own.

Watch Now

Why I don’t want to “get into politics”

a little bit about my background and experience

the pros of being unaffiliated

united, not divided

representation matters

about what we’ve accomplished at SCES

intro from the Q&A for Educators

Individual Endorsements

We started a series of individual endorsements from local parents, educators, and community members who know me personally and have seen my passion for students and my ability to get things done. Because I truly believe that personal recommendations on anything, from restaurants to movies to political candidates, make all the difference in the world

Jonathan Saeger
Music Educator


Chretien Dumond
Parent & Community Leader

News Articles

Darlene Hodges
Parent & Educator

Daniel Weeks
Parent & Community Leader


Goldsboro News Argus

Andrietta Herron
Parent & Educator


Full Interview with Daniel Weeks


Full Interview with Richard Taylor


Good Party

Instagram

KID "ENDORSEMENT" SERIES - This is a text that a Cub Scout friend sent to me today of what her 3rd grader said when he saw one of our yard signs today. ❤️❤️ This is what it's about, it's all for the kids #momonamission
FELLOW "MAMA BEAR" SUPPORT FROM DETROIT! A couple of weeks ago, when I was endorsed by Good Party as a Certified Candidate, I went to their website to check out their other certified candidates across the country, which is where I read abou
FELLOW "MAMA BEAR" SUPPORT FROM DETROIT! A couple of weeks ago, when I was endorsed by Good Party as a Certified Candidate, I went to their website to check out their other certified candidates across the country, which is where I read about another "Mama Bear" candidate for school board in her hometown of Detroit, Monique Bryant. Her story of how she got into this crazy idea of running for school board and her passion for kids in her area sounded so similar to mine, I just had to reach out to her to encourage her in her race. Not only did she write back with encouraging words too, she also donated to my campaign! #mamabearsunite #momonamission Good Party Certified Candidates are: - INDEPENDENT- committed to the interests of the people above themselves and partisan politics - PEOPLE-POWERED - focused on solving the problems facing their community not serving themselves and special interests. committed to running grass-roots campaigns that depend on being connected to the people they will be serving - ANTI-CORRUPTION - open, accountable, and transparent about their positions and progress on issues, which means staying connected to, informed by, and responsive to their constituents - CIVIL - committed to running a civil campaign focused on their ability to serve not mudslinging with opponents
IT'S A BUSY WEEK - THREE Speaking Events This Week! If you want to hear more from me about my campaign platform, my background and experience, and my heart for Wayne County students, there are THREE opportunities this week. Two public forums where al
IT'S A BUSY WEEK - THREE Speaking Events This Week! If you want to hear more from me about my campaign platform, my background and experience, and my heart for Wayne County students, there are THREE opportunities this week. Two public forums where all candidates were invited to participate - Monday @ 6 pm at the Grantham Fire Department for the Grantham Grange Political Forum & Thursday @ 6 pm at the Maxwell Center for the Delta Sigma Theta Candidate Forum. There is also a Meet & Greet just for my campaign, Tuesday at 7 pm at Artistic Dance Academy. Feel free to come with your questions and concerns! And if you're a praying person, pray for my endurance this week as well as my husband, Patrick, who has to handle all of the kids' extra-curricular activities by himself those nights (with our village's help of course)! Support comes in all kinds of forms. #momonamission
When you can drop off a campaign yard sign and eat amazing tacos at the same time. Y'ALL!!! You gotta try Tacos & Wings in Mt. Olive!! So good!! Mucho bueno!! #momonamission #tacosandwings Gracias amigos, Thank you friends for the support!! ❤️🌮❤️
INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD TAYLOR - This week, I sat down with local YouTuber Richard Taylor to talk about my mission and my heart for students. I know Richard is a somewhat polarizing figure in our community, but as I've said before, as an unaffiliated
INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD TAYLOR - This week, I sat down with local YouTuber Richard Taylor to talk about my mission and my heart for students. I know Richard is a somewhat polarizing figure in our community, but as I've said before, as an unaffiliated candidate in a non-partisan race who is committed to collaboration with everyone in our community, I'm accepting any and every invitation to come speak to anyone and everyone about my mission. Richard was very kind and asked great questions about specific issues and concerns I have for our students, staff, and schools. Like any other time I've sat down and talked with people face-to-face, we found we have much more in common than we thought, especially when it comes to concerns for the kids in our community and giving them every opportunity for a bright future. It's kind of long, almost an hour! So it's not a quick watch, but if you want to hear in more detail about what I think about things like the bus driver shortage, teacher shortage, student safety, equity in our schools, and more, I think it's worth listening to the whole thing (link in the comments). Thank you to Richard for taking the time, for the great questions, and for your support! If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to email at kathylarsonforeducation@gmail.com. #momonamission #taylorhousepublishing
What I saw when I rolled up to Abby's volleyball practice this morning 💕 THREE MAGNETS IN A ROW!!! And they weren't the only ones in the parking lot. 🙌🙌 Just had to park in front of them. We have the best TEAM!! #momonamission
Q&A FOR EDUCATORS - Last Saturday, we had a very informative Q&A for local educators. This video is only my opening remarks to the group because I promised to protect the privacy of the educators who came to the event who shared very openly and very vulnerably about their concerns. We had an hour-long conversation after these opening remarks. If you are an educator, parent, or concerned citizen and you missed the event but you still want to share your concerns, suggestions, or comments, feel free to email me at kathylarsonforeducation@gmail.com. I really do want to hear from YOU - educators, parents, community members... As I said to these educators on Saturday, if I am elected to the school board, to me that means, "As a person trying to make decisions FOR you, I need to hear FROM you." #momonamission - Be a voice for parents - Support teachers and staff - Be a bridge between board and community - Advocate for every student with the heart of a mom
So it's one month til early voting which means ALLLL the signs are going out! If you know me personally, you know I'm super frugal, so when my friends were like, "we have this empty lot, you should put one of those BIG signs there" I was l
So it's one month til early voting which means ALLLL the signs are going out! If you know me personally, you know I'm super frugal, so when my friends were like, "we have this empty lot, you should put one of those BIG signs there" I was like, IDK y'all, those things are expensive!! But I did a little research, as I'm prone to do, and found out the 4×4 squares are like half the price of the 4x8 signs and I think make just as much of an impact! I actually think the square kind of stands out, doesn't it?? Like I told a friend earlier today, one of the assets I would bring to the school board is I know how to stretch a dollar! 😂 Thank you to the many many friends and supporters who have let us put signs up on their properties, big and small!! #momonamission
THE HEART OF A MOM... Over the last few months, as I've talked to different people about my campaign platform and my heart to advocate for every student with the heart of a mom, people have been telling me stories of several other moms who have serve
THE HEART OF A MOM... Over the last few months, as I've talked to different people about my campaign platform and my heart to advocate for every student with the heart of a mom, people have been telling me stories of several other moms who have served on the Wayne County school board in years past, including the very first mom on the school board waaaayyyyy back in the '60s. One of the interesting (but not at all surprising) things I've noticed in each of their stories as to WHY they chose to run for school board is that every one of them had a personal reason to run - a student they knew personally who wasn't receiving needed services, a policy change that was going to affect students they personally knew, something they saw happening at their own children's school... For every single one of these moms, their choice to run for school board wasn't political, it was personal. There's something about the heart of a mom. Not that dads and grandparents and concerned community members can't also see a need in their community and take action for personal reasons too. Of course they can and they do! But there's something about the heart of a mom. Like these incredible women who have come before me, for me, this race isn't political, it's personal. My only "agenda" is doing what I can to help the teachers and students of Wayne County flourish. That's it. - Be a voice for parents - Give teachers and staff the support they need - Be a bridge between the board and the community - Advocate for every student with the heart of a mom #momonamission
IT'S NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION DAY! If you want to double-check your registration or register to vote for the first time, you can do that online here - https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering/checking-your-registration Type your name into the search box
IT'S NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION DAY! If you want to double-check your registration or register to vote for the first time, you can do that online here - https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering/checking-your-registration Type your name into the search box and it will show you whether you are registered to vote, where you will vote (precinct), and which district you vote in for each position (for example, I'm in NC Congressional District 4, Judicial District 9, School District 6). They used to have sample ballots online so you could see exactly what your ballot will look like and make sure you know what your options are for each position, but they pulled them down temporarily because they are in the process of taking RFK Jr off of the ballot for president. I'm not sure when those will be updated. The Wayne County Board of Elections has sample ballots, but it's all the precincts listed in one PDF document, so you have to scroll down and find your precinct to see your specific ballot - https://www.waynegov.com/DocumentCenter/View/9527/Samples-Combined-With-Watermark?bidId= I've said it before and I will keep saying it - many of us are hyper-focused on the Presidential elections, but we don't take the time to research our local representatives like NC Senate, NC House, County Commissioners, Board of Education, etc. to find out who they are and what they stand for. And yet, it's our local representatives who have the most impact on our day-to-day lives. Voting is a right in this country, but it is also a responsibility. In the last municipal election in Goldsboro in 2023, where they elected a new mayor and city council, only 14% of registered voters came out to vote in that election. Such a small percentage of people decided on representatives for the whole city who are making major changes in our community! If we want to make our voices heard, if we want to choose the direction in which we want our community to go, we have to get out and vote!! #momonamission
KID "ENDORSEMENT" SERIES - This is a text that a Cub Scout friend sent to me today of what her 3rd grader said when he saw one of our yard signs today. ❤️❤️ This is what it's about, it's all for the kids #momonamission
FELLOW "MAMA BEAR" SUPPORT FROM DETROIT! A couple of weeks ago, when I was endorsed by Good Party as a Certified Candidate, I went to their website to check out their other certified candidates across the country, which is where I read abou IT'S A BUSY WEEK - THREE Speaking Events This Week! If you want to hear more from me about my campaign platform, my background and experience, and my heart for Wayne County students, there are THREE opportunities this week. Two public forums where al
When you can drop off a campaign yard sign and eat amazing tacos at the same time. Y'ALL!!! You gotta try Tacos & Wings in Mt. Olive!! So good!! Mucho bueno!! #momonamission #tacosandwings Gracias amigos, Thank you friends for the support!!
INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD TAYLOR - This week, I sat down with local YouTuber Richard Taylor to talk about my mission and my heart for students. I know Richard is a somewhat polarizing figure in our community, but as I've said before, as an unaffiliated
What I saw when I rolled up to Abby's volleyball practice this morning 💕 THREE MAGNETS IN A ROW!!! And they weren't the only ones in the parking lot. 🙌🙌 Just had to park in front of them. We have the best TEAM!! #momonamission
Q&A FOR EDUCATORS - Last Saturday, we had a very informative Q&A for local educators. This video is only my opening remarks to the group because I promised to protect the privacy of the educators who came to the event who shared very openly a
So it's one month til early voting which means ALLLL the signs are going out! If you know me personally, you know I'm super frugal, so when my friends were like, "we have this empty lot, you should put one of those BIG signs there" I was l THE HEART OF A MOM... Over the last few months, as I've talked to different people about my campaign platform and my heart to advocate for every student with the heart of a mom, people have been telling me stories of several other moms who have serve IT'S NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION DAY! If you want to double-check your registration or register to vote for the first time, you can do that online here - https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering/checking-your-registration Type your name into the search box


Mount Olive Tribune