Meet the President: 5 Questions with Board of Education Leader Suzanne Callahan

Longtime Forest Hills Public Schools Board of Education member, Suzanne Callahan took on the new role of board president in January 2022. 

Suzanne and her husband have three children who have participated in the Spanish immersion program - they are a proud Forest Hills Northern family!

Suzanne has served alongside and creatively recruited many fellow parents into numerous volunteer and fundraising roles within various PTOs, academic booster and athletic booster groups. She is a vocal advocate for the Forest Hills Public Schools Foundation and served as co-chair of the gala in 2016. Suzanne has served on the finance committee and the curriculum committee.

Front row (L to R): Marti Atwater, Suzanne Callahan, Supt. Dan Behm
Back row (L to R): Kristen Covelle, Mary Vonck, Nicole Meloche-Gregory, Kristen Fauson, Maggie Terryn

Support FHPS was interested in hearing more about what President Callahan loves about the district and how we she is embracing this new position. 

1. What are some of your favorite programs at Forest Hills Public Schools that promote 21st Century learning?
President Callahan: I have three children, so I never pick favorites. Let's start from youngest to oldest. Anything that is happening in our kindergarten classrooms inspires me. The boundless energy and curiosity of our youngest students who are visibly eager to learn. Collaboration and teamwork start right there. 

I am regularly moved by the deep and intentional work our arts staff has been doing at the elementary and middle grades to really push the envelope on the idea of the arts as being an essential element to traditional core subject areas - and not sit alongside as a "special." 

The collaboration of our teachers to tie in math, language arts, and science in bold ways throughout the past decade is "the norm" for our staff. 

The oldest students have so many options to showcase their talents inside and outside the classroom: ProjectNEXT, immersion language programs, STEM, Lead the Way, and every single Broadway-quality musical on our stages at the Fine Arts Center.  

2. How have the needs or concerns of students evolved through your time serving on the Board of Education?
President Callahan: Mental health for our students has come into sharp focus and the work done prior to the pandemic by our teachers, staff, social workers, and AAA to coordinate resources has likely made it, I hope, easier for students and staff to have the vocabulary to discuss situations that are causing fear, anxiety, and stress. 

It is essential we provide the staff, the training for the teachers and staff, and the connections to resources for parents to make sure every student feels safe, welcomed, and eager to learn with their teachers and peers. 

The collision of digital influences, academic pressures, the timeless stressors of adolescence, and a pandemic on top have amplified the needs. 

3. What do you believe makes FHPS #1?
President Callahan: Our teachers. Our staff. Approximately 1,000 professionals who wake up every day and answer the question, "What is best for kids?" with digital-first assignments, collaborative learning, eye-popping experiments and more. 

4. How does your professional experience help you in your role on the Board of a K-12 district?
President Callahan: In my current "day job," I work closely with business leaders in local, regional, national, and international organizations who are focused on upskilling their workforce's leadership skills. Regardless of the industry, the same themes come up in my conversations every single day. "We need collaborative problem solvers. We need employees who can be held accountable and move up in leadership. We need team leaders and managers who can empathize and drive results at the same time. We need people who can work in ambiguous situations and make sense of information that may not seem connected."  

I also put this into practice in my "evening job" as an adjunct instructor for business classes at the college level. The classroom experience refines my skills (or more accurately tests them during a pandemic) on how to create an engaging learning experience that is practical and relevant. 

After 25 years of teaching at the college level, the last two years have driven my empathy meter way up around the challenges our teachers are facing. 

5. What do you believe FHPS offers that helps set kids up for success after graduation?
We have a community, a school board and superintendent focused on the vision where all learners are achieving their individual potential. 

What does this look like to me? I see a place where the environment invites and encourages kids to consider possibility. Possibility of problems they can solve, places they can go, work they can do, and people they can meet. 

We are not sitting still with a mission, vision, and guiding principles as a plaque on a wall. Our administrators and staff live out our guiding principles of caring, collaboration, open communication, diversity and inclusiveness, high expectations, learning, respect, and trust. With these behaviors and beliefs alive and well in our classrooms and community, our kids will do great things. 

Thank you for your time, President Callahan. You can also revisit the introductory letter she sent to FHPS families upon assuming her new role here.