Each week, Lowell’s First Look will be profiling a different candidate for the Lowell Area Schools Board of Education. These profiles are intended to provide voters with information on candidate backgrounds and why they are running. Watch for weekly Q&As for details on each candidate’s position of various policy issues.
When Brian Krajewski and his wife were shopping for a new home in 1999, they would cruise through the parking lots of area schools. It was the “pick-up trucks and rust” that helped them settle on Lowell as where they wanted to raise their family.
“We wanted to be sure our kids could focus on being kids,” Krajewski explains. He was looking for somewhere that his children would hopefully not feel as pressured to have the latest status symbol – somewhere that reminded him of his childhood neighborhood in Grand Rapids.
“[My wife and I] grew up on the west side in a community of people caring for and taking care of each other,” Krajewski says. Lowell ended up being an excellent fit for the family, and Krajewski’s two children are now Lowell Area Schools alumni.
Krajewski, 54, was first elected to the LAS Board of Education in 2012, and he is the body’s current president. He is also one of five active candidates vying for four open seats on the November general election ballot.
“Data-Driven, Inquisitive Problem-Solver”
A graduate of West Catholic High School, Krajewski earned his degree from Ferris State University and initially worked as a plastics engineer. Over the course of his career, he slowly changed industries and now works as a consultant in health care.
Krajewski says it’s his job to “help organizations be the best they can be.” And he describes himself as a “data-driven, inquisitive problem-solver.”
He has put those attributes to work as a volunteer in the community and with LAS. Among other things, he helped get Pink Arrow off the ground and was a volunteer project manager for establishing the Lowell Clubhouse of Gilda’s Club. After the Lowell Wrestling Club was rocked by an embezzlement scandal, Krajewski helped it come “back from ashes” as its president.
But his proudest moment was helping to organize a bone marrow drive for a student in 2005. More than 1,100 people were added to the National Bone Marrow Donor registry as a result of the drive, making it one of the largest self-funded bone marrow drives at that time.
“That day probably changed my life,” Krajewski says. When they ran out of donor vials at the high school, only six of the approximately 800 people waiting to register left. The rest waited for further supplies to arrive. That community spirit is what makes Lowell so special, Krajewski says.
Twelve Years of Board Experience
As one of the more veteran members of the LAS Board of Education, Krajewski is proud of the work he and other board members have done. He says Lowell is recognized for having some of the best schools regionally.
“I want our school district to continue to be the leader that it is,” Krajewski says.
He witnessed firsthand how the district helped his children succeed and that was his motivation for running for the Board of Education in the first place. “I want to make sure that other kids and families have the same level of support we received,” Krajewski says.
One of the most rewarding aspects of being on the board is being able to hand out diplomas. Nothing is better than seeing a student who previously struggled be successful and walk across the stage at graduation, according to Krajewski.
Looking forward, Krajewski believes mental health is one of the biggest challenges facing schools. “Social media’s impact on children is something society hasn’t prepared itself for,” he says, adding that “Mental health is all of our responsibility.”
Planting Today for Tomorrow’s Fruits
Krajewski doesn’t see his role on the board as simply responding to the issues of the day but also preparing the district to carry on its mission in the future.
“What we do today, we should be able to see the fruits of that in 50 years,” Krajewski says. In his opinion, that means creating an environment in which a student’s needs are met so they can develop the skills needed to be successful, regardless of which path that student chooses in life. “I hope [LAS] will be a better place with us being a part of it.”
“We moved into a community that was everything we would want it to be,” Krajewski says. He wants others to feel the same about Lowell. That’s why he ran for the LAS Board of Education in the first place and why he hopes voters will reelect him this November.
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