Crisis in K-12 Education – Longview WA, Summit

Speakers

• 

  Jim Walsh WA State Representative
  

  Jim Walsh

  WA State Representative

  Jim Walsh was elected in 2016 to the state House of Representatives and sworn into office on December 8 of that year. He represents the 19th District, which includes parts of Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Pacific, and Wahkiakum counties. Jim is only the third Republican to represent the district since the 1940s.

  Jim’s legislative priorities are creating family-wage jobs, adequately funding schools, and protecting taxpayers, property rights and gun rights. He wants to diversify the economies of his coastal communities and bring new opportunities to his constituents. Jim believes an effective local school system is vital to ensure a full economic recovery.

  Jim is committed to bipartisanship and finding common-sense solutions in the Legislature. He is the ranking member on the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee, assistant ranking member on both the Education and State Government and Tribal Relations committees, and serves as a member on the Transportation Committee.

  Jim graduated cum laude from Amherst College in 1986. He formed a small publishing company in 1998 that he continues to operate today. Jim has also written columns for the Aberdeen Daily World newspaper, coached boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, and held leadership roles with local and state Republican groups.

  Jim lives in Aberdeen and has five children.

• 

  Jennifer Heine-Withee Education Awareness, Project Consultant, Family Policy Institute of WA
  

  Jennifer Heine-Withee

  Education Awareness, Project Consultant, Family Policy Institute of WA

  Jennifer is the Education Awareness, Project Consultant with the Family Policy Institute of Washington. Previously she served as the Director of Washington Parents’ Rights in Education, the first state chapter outside the state of Oregon. Jennifer has worked in coalition with several Washington grass roots organizations fighting against the sexual indoctrination of children in public schools. Her mission is to empower parents and enlighten communities through education, activation, and motivation. She has been interviewed numerous times for radio and publications, and is excited to be working with FPIW.

  Jennifer has been married for 23 years and has 3 grown kids.

• Heidi St. John The Busy Mom
  Heidi St. John

  The Busy Mom

  Heidi St John has delighted tens of thousands of readers through her blog, her Facebook page, her books and now MomStrongInternational.com, where she is leading women through a continuing online Bible Study and relationship building as they all #getoffthebench and #ontothebattlefield together. Her transparent style and her rich sense of humor combine to draw her readers into what feels like a very personal conversation over a cup of coffee.

  Heidi’s ability to bypass our prejudices and preconceptions allows her to speak directly to the heart of every reader as she offers wisdom, inspiration and grace to those who are all-too-often feeling overwhelmed by all that’s on their plate.

  A favorite speaker and author, Heidi St. John approaches marriage and parenting with humor and grace. Her passion to encourage moms and set them free to be who God has created them to be will bless and encourage you. Heidi has been married to her husband Jay since 1989. Together they have seven children and three grandkids with a 4th on the way! The St. Johns’ children range in age from tween to adult. They have homeschooled the kids all the way through high school, with 5 graduates now.

  Heidi is the author of seven books. Her most recent book, Bible Promises for Moms is the latest in the MomStrong collection. She has also released Prayers for the Battlefield: Staying MomStrong in the Fight for Your Family and Your Faith and Becoming MomStrong: How to Fight With All That’s In You For Your Family and Your Faith, which focuses on helping mothers build a solid biblical foundation for their families with an accompanying Bible Study. Join Heidi at MomStrong International, an online ministry where women come together for weekly video-led Bible Studies, Scripture Writing, online and in real life fellowship.

• Elpidia Saavedra Mayor of Toppenish
  Elpidia Saavedra

  Mayor of Toppenish

  Born and raised in the city of Toppenish by a single mom. My dad left when I was young. I have 9 siblings. 4 sisters and 5 brothers. All wonderful, productive people. We worked as farmworkers growing up, poor, on welfare, but happy. My mom, an immigrant from Mexico, loves the United States and instilled in her kids the values of loving God, family, and country. In the summer of 1998, I heard there were some council positions open in Toppenish. I felt led by God to apply, so I did and have served the City of Toppenish ever since. Then, in the Summer of 2022, a concerned parent and family member approached me with some documents about the Comprehensive Sexual Education curriculum plan to be taught to the kids in our school district. What I read and saw was deeply concerning. To me, it seemed like a blatant attack on the faith-based values of many parents, our Latino cultural values, our kid’s innocence, and mental well-being, in addition to the right of parents as a whole. I decided to get involved and help parents fight back to protect their kids and parental rights.

• 

  Ernest J. Zarra Scholar, Author
  

  Ernest J. Zarra

  Scholar, Author

  Ernest J. Zarra, III, Ph.D., is a Bible college graduate and holds five earned degrees, including the Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, as well as graduate degrees in biblical studies and apologetics. Ernie has been a Christian for five decades, taught over 40 years at all levels, written fifteen books, and is author of more than a dozen journal articles and several Op-Eds. His writings have appeared in RealClear Education, The National Association of Scholars, of which he is a member, and peer-reviewed professional journals of education.

  He is married to his college sweetheart, Suzi, and is the father of two adult children and energetic grandchildren.