Candidate for
Board Member; Hope School District

My passion for education and the community in which we live has led me to run for the Hope School District Board.

I was born in Woodland Hills, California in 1968. My mother was a 30 year veteran of the Los Angeles Unified School District, as an elementary school teacher and substitute, as well as serving as a home and hospital teacher for ill or injured students. From an early age I began to appreciate the hard work and emotional effort put forward by our teachers.

I attended UCSB and graduated in 1990 with a degree in Law and Society. It was while at UCSB where I met my wife of 15 years, Chrissie. She had plans to become an elementary school teacher, a goal with which I found an immediate connection.

After graduation, I attended law school at Pepperdine University School of Law. During the same time, Chrissie earned her teaching credential at UCLA. We married in 1993, and after law school graduation, I joined a mid size law firm in downtown Los Angeles. Chrissie became a teacher at McKinley Elementary in the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District. It was during this time that I spent hundreds of hours in Chrissie's classroom helping with back to school night, open house, setting up displays and simply watching her teach.

After living and working in Los Angeles for two years, we knew it was time to move back to Santa Barbara. In 1996, I joined a small law firm in Santa Barbara, and Chrissie was hired as a teacher at Peabody Elementary School. Chrissie taught at Peabody for six years until the birth of our second daughter.

Currently, I am a partner in the law firm of Maho & Prentice, located on State Street in Santa Barbara. Our firm handles many types of litigation, and I personally focus my practice on employment issues and personal injury matters. I have had the opportunity to manage a small business, including all financial aspects related to that business.

Chrissie and I have three terrific kids: Brittany is in 4th grade, Ella is in 1st grade, and Nic recently turned three. Brittany and Ella attend Monte Vista Elementary. We are very proud of Monte Vista and feel the Hope District provides a tremendous educationally and socially rich environment for our children. We too, have enjoyed volunteering many hours at our school.

Over the past two years, I served on the Executive Board for Monte Vista PTA. This experience has provided me with an invaluable insight to our schools' financials, and the fundraising necessities of our parents. In 2007, I was able to serve on the Hope District hiring committee to interview candidates for the Monte Vista principal position. In addition, the opportunity to serve on the Hope School District leasing committee came about this past school year. Working with various teachers, parents and administrators throughout the district on these committees furthered my enjoyment for the educational system, and provided me with a broad spectrum of the issues affection all three schools in our district.

I am excited to have the opportunity to volunteer my time to this great district, and look forward to serving the needs of our students, teachers, parents and adminstrators if elected to the Hope School Board.