As many students of Carlsbad High School are aware, one of our former fellow Lancer’s is taking a big step toward promoting change in the Carlsbad Unified School District.
Sage Naumann, an eighteen year old Carlsbad resident and recent graduate of Carlsbad High School has decided to run for the Carlsbad School Board in 2014. The announcement was first released in January on Facebook through a video Naumann posted for his friends and family to see.
“My mission statement, of sorts, is back to basics, focusing on three main things: I want to focus on becoming sustainable and balancing our budget. I want to reboot our relationships with city hall, teachers, and the community and I want to connect with the booming business economy we have here in Carlsbad,” Naumann said.
Some see Naumann as too young, or with too little experience to run for school board and be an effective school board member. To that, Naumann has this to say:
“Obviously the downfalls of my age are clear, I’m not as experienced. But when we look at what the current school board is experienced in doing it makes people want to pick the wild card. We have fivewomen who normally vote the same way. It’s almost a clique, and people want to see that changed,” Naumann said. “The argument that we’re going to have some crazy cowboy 18 year old running the school board just isn’t true. I’m one factor in an equation. I wouldn’t support a school board full of people like me because we do need one experience, but we also need diversity.”
Although there are some downfalls that come with someone as young as Naumann, there are also benefits that would come with the election of someone like Sage.
“The people on the school board haven’t been in high school for twenty, thirty, forty years, I have. There are things about high school that have changed since these officials were in high school, and I experienced first hand what high school is like these days, that can be enormously beneficial,” Naumann said.
Naumann has been working hard to legitimize his campaign. Over the past months he has gathered endorsements as well as gained publicity on the internet and in our community.
“This next year I need to build a base, gather endorsements and raise money,” Naumann said. “Come 2014, I’ll do outreach, push for volunteers and we’ll see yard signs 20 days out from the campaign. This year will really be about legitimizing my campaign and making sure I’m a serious contender.”
Watch out for Naumann in the news and on social media sites because in the coming months he’ll be reaching out to gain support and get his name recognized as a real contender for a place as a school board official.
