2001 Candidates
Diane SchrierBoard of Education
2001 Candidates
Diane Schrier
Since moving to Ridgefield 12 years ago, Diane Schrier has been devoted to working with children in many hands-on capacities. She has been a Girl Scout Leader for 12 years for 2 troops, a Sunday School teacher for 7 years, a room mother for several years for both daughters, a tutor in different classrooms, library assistant, talent show director for 8 years, school play manager, River Study volunteer and field trip chaperone.
Also, as an active volunteer, she created the Rainy Day Recess program in Veterans Park, organized volunteers, worked on mini-grants, PACE, networking, worked on many programs at Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church, including organizing a fashion show for the Hanohoe Clinic, running Books and Games for the annual Yankee Peddler Fair and was treasurer for United Methodist Women. Diane is a member of Productions for Young People and was its treasurer for 6 years. She is on the Programming Committee for the Performing Arts Center.. Diane has been very active in the realm of Ridgefield Sports. Among other activities, she coached a winning soccer team, coached Biddy Ball and assistant coached a basketball team. She was one of the organizers of the Tiger Tennis Court group that raised the $89,000 to finish the last two tennis courts. She is on the Programming Committee for the Performing Arts Center. She has also been involved in National Charity League, Community Bible Study, DAR and the Wilton Pony Club.
Her daughters, Becky Schrier, a 12th grade student, and Jillian, a 9th grader, have been students in the Ridgefield School System since kindergarten. They have both been very active in sports including: SCOR, travel soccer, premier soccer, RBA, travel basketball, AAU basketball, tennis (Becky is varsity co-captain), dance and horsebackriding. Diane created the first town wide art contest for the SCOR Labor Day Warm-Up Tournament T-shirt. The sale of the shirts created a significant profit.
Diane has an MBA from New York University where she majored in Finance/International Business and a BA from Syracuse, where she majored in Psychology. She has also taken computer courses from Skidmore University and is certified in Microsoft NT4. Previously, she took real estate courses from the Real Estate Institute of New York, where she was certified. She actively used this knowledge as an assistant to the Vice Chairman of Cushman and Wakefield, the man who organized the building and the financing of the Sears Tower. She was also a financial controller at Citibank, managing a $36 million budget. In addition she was an offsite finance instructor for Citibank’s executive officers.
Her husband, Jack, is semi-retired and owns his own company, Finconex, an international trade finance consulting firm. He has a doctorate in Islamic history and civilization, with a minor in Russian history.
Diane strongly feels that the school curriculum should give every student the opportunity to obtain the best possible education. She believes that the primary goal of an education is to develop knowledgeable, well-rounded students with the ability to learn in their own differentiated style. While doing well on standardized tests is important, it is essential that the student learns to love receiving and using knowledge. It is clear that overseeing major building projects requires education and training. Diane wants to use her real estate background to help ensure that all the building projects are completed in a timely, within budget, manner, and that they will conform to their specifications.
Diane feels that, in addition to updating the curriculum, it is important to find ways of enriching that curriculum with cost effective techniques. She notes that the major focus of the last 12 years has been to relieve the overcrowding problem. Now it is important to deal with areas that were not clearly as critical during those years, but whose improvements are now clearly essential.
Diane also feels that input from students and families is very important, as they are consumers with special insights. Being involved consumers, they can often recommend ways of improving the schools without exceeding budgetary limitations. With students, parents, teachers and administrators working together, Ridgefield’s highly rated school system can be further improved to where it is the # 1 system in Connecticut.
Contact Diane Schrier
Brought to you by the Ridgefield, Ct.
Democratic Town Committee, Susan D. Cocco, Chairman
Paid for by The Ridgefield Democratic Town Committee, Edwin C. Pearson, Treasurer
2001 Candidates