Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Mondovi resident to take Peterson's seat
REARDAN-A longtime farmer living in the Mondovi area was chosen to join the Reardan-Edwall school board. Tessa Wicks was selected by the board members Wednesday, Aug. 24 to fill the vacant seat created when Roger Peterson suddenly passed away in June.
"There are big shoes to fill with Roger's passing, and I knew that going in," Wicks said.
Wicks joins a board that includes chair Jeff Anderson, Jennifer Cox, Simon Butterfield and Ryan Clouse. All seats in the district are at-large positions.
"Jenny Cox and I have children in the same grades, and she kind of nudged me to apply (for the vacancy)," Wicks said.
Wicks has two children in the school district, a senior and an eighth-grader. She interviewed before the board last Wednesday, which she said was a unique experience.
"I wasn't quite sure what to expect," she said. "They asked everything from what if's to my thoughts on the district."
Wicks said she hopes the district can pass its capital improvement levy headed to the ballots in November.
"If we can push that through, we would really leave our mark," Wicks said.
Wicks said the school board has become "more proactive" in recent years and hopes to continue that trajectory.
"Hopefully we can continue moving in that direction," she said.
Wicks has been wheat farming and cattle ranching all her life. She and her husband Anthony own a farm east of Mondovi. Her parents are Stan and Jill Schwartz, who have owned farmland in the Reardan area for many years.
She is a seed administrator for HighLine Grain Growers in Reardan, while her husband Anthony is a wheat farmer.
"He's out on the combine all day, and I'm there to take it in when he brings it to (HighLine)," she said.
Wicks is also a 4H leader for livestock at Reardan, a member of the Spring Creek Grange and a volunteer for Jr. Livestock of Spokane.
She takes over Peterson's four-year term on the school board, which expires at the end of 2023.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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