Joseph H. Slabbink

Office sought: Lyon County School Board of Trustees

Age: 60

Number of years in office: None

Occupation: Retired from DaimlerChrysler

Address: 1225 Mountain Rose Dr., Fernley, NV 89408; moved to Nevada in spring 2005

Phone number: (775) 575-1116

Family: Wife, Brenda; two children

Education: Bachelor's, juris doctor from Wayne State University, Detroit

Previous experience: Trustee for two years on Chippewa Valley School Board of Trustees in Macomb County, Mich.; Detroit Public Schools leadership positions in parents organization; various regional organizations.

Religious or civic organizations you belong to: Michigan organizations include Clinton Township Goodfellows (mission is to raise funds to ensure "No Child Without A Christmas"); Macomb County Interfaith Center for Racial Justice; Clinton Township Zoning Board of Appeals

Reason for running: "I believe that public education is one of the greatest gifts we can offer our children, and I want to work with the administration, teachers and parents to make sure we provide our children the best possible education. I believe that, in addition to teaching children to take tests, we need to develop their critical-thinking skills. This is vital to ensure that our children can effectively compete in the global economy; and to be effective, our democracy requires an educated electorate than can evaluate public policy issues objectively."