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November 21, 2009

Bannister to run for School Board

wants to help marlow kids

Derrick Miller

Many school board have elections coming up, and Marlow is no exception.Cody Bannister has announced his intentions to run for the Marlow School Board Seat 5 position.

“It falls back onto the community,” Bannister said. “I love Marlow. My wife and I decided to live there, and have our children go to school there.

“The school is the backbone of the community. We need to do every thing we can. We want the children to be as successful as they can be.”

Bannister said he doesn’t have an agenda that propelled him to run for school board. Instead, he is running because of the duty of service to the community and an opportunity to create a positive educational experience for the students.

“You can’t go into any community seat with an agenda in mind,” Bannister said. “I’m going to do what the community wants.

“There are large financial decisions coming. There are decisions about facilities to be made.”

Bannister is a graduate of Marlow Public Schools. He has two children, including a 5-year-old son, who is in kindergarten at Marlow Elementary School.

He was formerly employed with The Duncan Banner, which gave him opportunities to attend Marlow School Board meetings, along with meetings of other school boards.

“It gave me some idea of what other schools do,” Bannister said.

He said he would use his experience in attending the meetings as a comparison for the Marlow School Board, to find ways to improve and to highlight what works well.

Bannister is employed with Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association. He said working with the school board won’t be a difficult task because he works with a board of 65 people on a daily basis.

“It would be nice working with a small board,” he said. “I have experience working with a board.

“We always coming up with ideas. I always go back to my roots as a reporter — ask questions and present the right facts. From there, decisions will be easy.”

Bannister said he also has a background in education. His mother had been a teacher. She still keeps a lifeline with the schools as the community librarian.

Bannister’s father also served on the Marlow School Board for 15 years, while Bannister was attending school in Marlow.

“That part of the reason I want to run,” he said. “My dad taught me that to be part of the community, you have to serve the community.”

He said he wants to see positive things happening in Marlow Public Schools because it’s a school district he expects great things. Bannister said he has seen two bond issues fail in recent years, and this is something the school board should address.

He said he does have some concerns, but he wants to give all Marlow students, including his son, a chance at a good education. Bannister said his son’s kindergarten class is in a temporary building. He said he’d like to see something done to about the school buildings.

“Temporary buildings are fine if they’re temporary,” Bannister said.

He said he’s excited about running for school board and wants to help the school district continue going in the right direction. He said he also wants to have a chance to be more active in his children’s education.

“We want our city to grow,” Bannister said. “One way is through a good school system.”

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