A Greeley West graduate has been changing lives by making state level decisions for schools all around the country.
Ms. Rhonda Solis graduated from Greeley West in 1987 and has found her way to the State Board of Education where she makes decisions for schools around the state. Solis was also part of the Greeley-Evans School Disrict 6 school board that passed the bond issue that helped fund the building of the new Greeley West.
When she was in high school she had the same anxiety most seniors still have: going to college. “I wasn’t sure what to do after high school. I was afraid to go to college and didn’t have a good support system at home for that,” Solis said.
She also had other concerns after high school as she wasn’t involved as much as others. “As I graduated, I thought to myself that no one would have even known I went there,” Solis explained.
Solis was in FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) when she was in high school and also had a job at a dental office. After graduation, she continued to work in the office. “At the age of 19, I applied for a job with a female dentist (we only had 2 female dentists in Greeley – it was a male dominated field) and she was amazing,” Solis said.
As Solis got older she had the realization she wanted to be more involved with her community on different boards and commissions. “I found out how important it is to use your voice for not only yourself, but others that have had some of the same experiences as you,” Solis explained.
She served a total of eight years on the D6 school board. “I was a product of D6 and so were my children and that gave me lots of different viewpoints to bring to the table,” Solis said.
At the end of her local term on the board, she was looked at by people and they reached out to her to continue as a state board member. “I looked at the state board and, again, there weren’t any Latinos serving so I decided to run. I am only the third Latino to be elected to the State Board of Education since it was formed in 1950 and I am the first to be elected from (Congressional District 8),” Solis said.
Solis plans to run for her office again when her term is up. In the meantime, her biggest concern is funding education at the highest level possible. “We don’t fully fund K-12 education at the level we are supposed to. I want all Colorado kids to get a well rounded education and sometimes it can be difficult because people have different ideas of what that looks like,” Solis explained.