By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL – Gail Ann Briggs has always believed there is nothing more important than providing or seeing that a good, solid education is provided for society and its children.
‘’My mother was a teacher and I really liked what I saw that she brought to education,” said Briggs, who has decided she will not seek re-election to the Unit 5 school board after serving nearly 41 years.
“My impetus for becoming involved was our son beginning in kindergarten in 1974,” she added. “There was a position open on the citizen’s advisory council that I served on and got a real flavor for what Unit 5 had to offer.”
PODCAST: Listen to interview with Briggs here
She ran for a seat on the school board in 1976 and will vacate that position as the longest serving McLean County Unit 5 board member and the fourth longest serving board member in Illinois.
During her tenure, Briggs has served as president, vice president and secretary and has seen many changes.
“First of all, we’ve more than doubled the number of students in the district,” said Briggs. “We’ve built nine new schools, other facilities and made major renovations to others so we could accommodate not just our growth, but the improvements and curricular offerings.”
Briggs said she decided not to run in the April election “because it is time to step away and for the people who were elected two years ago and those appointed last spring and those who are continuing to take the reins and go with the things that are important to them as well as to the district.
“We have an outstanding superintendent, who after two years on the job, has proven to be a real leader. I have every confidence that everything is going to go well with whomever is elected come April 4.”
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
