Now that we have all gathered together with a common purpose in mind, I hope we can stick together! I married David, my high school sweetheart, in 1998.
Born and raised in Grand Rapids, I am a graduate of Forest Hills Northern High School and Grand Valley State University, with a Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education and a Middle School Science Endorsement. We made our home in Ada, right here where we grew up, and have lived here for the past 20 years. We have six children, from elementary age through college, who keep us busy with school,
sports, and other family activities. One of our family's favorite things to do is pile into the SUV and road-trip to the FREE air of the American West! Dave is a Dentist with two established dental practices in the Grand Rapids area. After taking a decade away from the education world to raise our children and help manage the dental practices from home, I returned to the work force as the Office Manager and Treatment Coordinator for both of Dave's dental practices. I am experienced in small business management, bookkeeping, balancing budgets, marketing, human resources, customer service, and patient relations. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world in the Spring of 2020, everything came to a screeching halt for nearly everyone. School was cancelled. Sports were cancelled. Businesses were told to close their doors. But my husband and I knew that there had to be a way to be smart, and safe, while still living life! We felt obligated to set that example for our children and our staff. While most dental practices shut down, leaving thousands of employees without a job, and patients to flounder and suffer in pain, Dave and I found a safe and effective way to stay open and offer emergency services to patients in need, because toothaches don't just go away when a pandemic comes to town! Smiles by Design and Eastern Dental have been open and running smoothly, to safely serve patients throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, while respecting individual personal medical freedom of choice for staff and patients as well! If we can thank the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns for one thing, it gave parents an eye into what their children were being taught in school, through virtual learning. My family has had a unique educational perspective throughout the years, because we have children who attend Forest Hills Public Schools as well as Lowell Area Schools, through the Schools of Choice program. The more I networked with other parents within both school districts, it became ever-so-apparent that the concerns I was seeing in the schools and classrooms were not unique to just one school or one school district. Parents were FED UP with virus mandates getting in the way of their children's social, emotional, and academic lives. Kids NEEDED to be in school, learning, growing, and socializing, instead of being locked out of school and confined to a virtual world. Along with locking students out of school, locking parents out of the schools during the Covid pandemic allowed for a new and unexpected push for the divisive teachings of Critical Race Theory (CRT), diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), social-emotional learning (SEL), LGBTQ+ and gender identity concerns, political activism, and more. We were watching the schools our children knew and loved transform right before our very eyes! Between the unconstitutional government mandates and lockdowns, and the extremely concerning things we were seeing going on in the schools, I knew it was time to SHOW UP, STAND UP AND SPEAK UP for the children, parents and business owners who cannot. I spent much of 2020 becoming involved in the GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT to RESTORE THE FREEDOMS that were bestowed upon us by our Founding Fathers and the United States Constitution. I traveled to the Capitol in Lansing and rallied for personal medical freedoms, attended peaceful protests against the Government lockdowns, mask and vaccine mandates, emailed and called our local and state governing officials, circulated petitions to end tyrannical orders, and began attending and speaking at EVERY School Board and County Commissioner meeting I possibly could! I have been leading the charge for parent groups in Forest Hills Public Schools (Forest Hills for JUST Education) and Lowell Area Schools (Lowell Kids 1st), asking tough questions and demanding transparency and accountability. Our children are our future, and it is our job as parents, grandparents, and small business owners to protect the integrity of America and what it was founded upon, for them and their children and grandchildren to come! As your Kent County Commissioner, I will work hard to represent YOUR voice, YOUR concerns, and YOUR needs. I will do my best to fight for transparency and accountability across the board and to see to-it that your tax dollars go toward keeping Ada and Lowell a great place to live, work and raise your family for years to come! Please vote Stefanie Boone for Kent County Commissioner, District 5!
