VOTE HARIHAR KULKARNI
Northville School Board Candidate
MY TOP PRIORITY
Secure the safety of students, teachers, parents and the community while achieving critical education objectives.
Harihar Kulkarni - Northville School Board Candidate
Supporting education and innovation.
Students are the future. Educators empower their future. The community must support educators and students with a particular focus on innovating access to education during this trying time in history.
QUALIFICATIONS & VISION
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Harihar Kulkarni is a current resident of Northville for the last 12 years with two grandchildren attending the Ridgewood elementary school
Demonstrated application of technical and interpersonal skills to lead teams of experts to design products and processes and to implement in manufacturing plants of Ford Motor Company globally and improved the total cost savings for the company by millions of dollars.
Technical Manager with 44 years of accomplished service at Ford Motor Company
PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Knoxville, Tennessee & M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science
Recipient of two Henry Ford Technology awards and two United States of America patents
TOP PRIORITIES
Top Priority: secure the safety of students, teachers, parents and the community while achieving critical education objectives
Alleviate parents and the overall community concern of hitting their breaking points due to the invasive Covid-19 safety guidelines coupled with the earnest student educational needs and their future careers while sustaining negative financial impacts due to the state of the economy
Collaborate with fellow School Board members to update and enhance proper in-person or virtual teaching options as mentioned in official curriculum and directives for the Northville School System and to achieve the appropriate safety requirements for teachers, parents, and students
PROACTIVE AGENDA
Initiate a proactive agenda to create opportunities for Northville students
Encourage and lead students to be proactive to build their future career with both academic and hands-on skills for the benefits of the community and to teach them to be positive contributing citizens
Establish a technical facility at schools to bolster current hands-on programs.
Encourage and lead students to participate in national competitions and to develop hands-on skills to design and optimize hardware necessary to win competitions such as First Robotic, Digital Innovations and more
Ingrain in the minds of students that they are smart in many different ways. Each person is smart and blessed with differing talents. Some people have “book smarts” while others have “people smarts”. Others still have technical or “machine smarts”. The difference between people who succeed and people who don't is the application and dedication they give to the talents that compose their unique intelligence
Emphasize education that focuses on character, values, and identity, not just how smart a student may be; intelligence is merely a tool and character determines how you use that tool
Invite successful professionals from the community at large to deliver inspirational presentations regarding how they applied their unique intelligence in successful ways
Discuss and highlight accomplishments and the persistence of successful engineering icons such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and more
FOR EDUCATORS
Create an environment conducive to retaining high quality educators
Reduce the number of students each educator is responsible for. This action will help educators focus on quality and reduce the stress and workload of large class sizes
On a quarterly basis, recognize the high-quality contribution of education staff
Acknowledge and recognize the contribution and achievements of exceptional education staff publicly in regular PTA meetings and post their successes in school buildings and online platforms (websites, emails etc.)
Offer comparable benefits and rewards given to educators in nearby school districts to Northville School System educators
Make the Northville school system a desired destination for educators
STRATEGY & PLATFORM
1 - Support & enhance the mental health of students
Increase the number of counselors in schools to prevent bullying and to prevent suicide
Ensure the confidentiality of student – counselor interactions
Emphasize the education is about character, values, and identity, and not just how smart a student may be. Intelligence is just a tool. Character determines how you use that tool
Encourage a positive attitude towards healthy competition at all levels
Communicate with parents regularly about students’ concerns
Emphasize the benefits and significance of the positive nature of a diverse culture
Conduct inspirational seminars to motivate students
Invite mental health experts and officials to conduct town hall meetings to discuss the impact of bullying, acceptance, and benefits of diverse cultures in the community
Encourage students to consult mental health professionals to discuss their concerns and understand the remedies that will improve their mental health
2 - Provide the resources necessary for special needs students
Encourage students to consult mental health professionals to discuss their concerns and understand the remedies that will improve their mental health
The Cook’s school is available for special need students, and we need to request adult volunteers and parents in the community to assist students and explain the steps and processes necessary to meet challenges and coach them in their educational matriculation
3 - Improve the security and safety measures at all schools
Mandate police and nurse presences at schools to ensure security and safety
Establish a public announcement system for all schools and in the case of an actual emergency, connect it to the Northville police department
Install greenlight security systems at schools similar to what is provided in the Detroit Public School system
Conduct dry run emergency drills once every six months, so that students and educators are prepared to take action appropriately in the event of a real emergency
If a student or educator contracts COVID, keep the identity private and quarantine the individual immediately, while utilizing contact tracing measures to notify potential individuals that may have been in contact with the infected individual
Disinfect educational facilities where students and teachers interact
4 - Support diversity in the community
Espouse curriculums to emphasize the positivity of diversity within the community
Conduct periodic surveys with students, teachers and parents to understand the root causes of inappropriate behaviors within the community
Encourage parents to allow their children to commingle with other students freely and to reinforce the positivity of diversity
CONTACT
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
vote@hariharkulkarni.com