Valerie for SKSC - About Me

Who am I?

First and foremost, I am a parent and a South Kingstown tax payer. Thus, I have a strong investment in the success of our schools. I have 5 children who have each attended SK schools for at least some of their K-12 education. Due to changing homes and growing our family through adoption, some of my children have also attended 3 other school districts, which actually has given me a good perspective for comparison. My children range in age from 12 to 21, and they have all received amazing educational opportunities in the SK schools, not to mention the many wonderful teachers who have guided their education.

In my career, I am a professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Rhode Island. If you are unfamiliar with industrial engineering, you should know that there is a strong focus on continuous improvement and metrics. My education includes a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, with a minor in engineering psychology. My graduate studies were at University of Michigan with dual master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and also in Industrial & Operations Engineering, along with my PhD in Mechanical Engineering. I have taught courses at URI including Manufacturing Systems, Inventory and Production Control, Optimization, Sustainable Lean Production, and Engineering Economics. This is one of my favorite photos as a working mom - if you look closely in between the engineering calculator and textbooks on my office desk, you can see the 20 day old infant - my husband brought her to campus so that I could breastfeed in between classes. I'm a bit of a multi-tasker and thrive when managing complex schedules and systems.

As a parent, I’ve seen it all - Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and specialized educational testing, Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) Courses, Dual Language Immersion (DLI), Career and Technical Education (CTEs), electives and college prep courses. My kids have been involved in chorus, soccer, track, basketball, drama, band, orchestra, SMILE (Science and Math Investigative Learning Experience), cross country, gymnastics, CARES after school homework club, ecology club, cheerleading, Italian club, debate club, and softball. Outside of school, they’ve done Girl Scouts (yes, I was cookie mom...and assistant troop leader), and for 3 years we ran an independent First Lego League robotics club at our home, similar to the one that Curtis Corner has now. I have watched programs that my kids loved, such as culinary, get cut due to budget constraints, while others, such as music, made it through. This photo of me and the dog was taken at a holiday party for the high school theater group last year. I love having the whole team or whole class over for a pasta party or bonfire.

Service is a large part of my life philosophy. I have contributed to the university’s service mission in a variety of ways including serving on the Faculty Senate and as a member or chairperson of many committees related to curriculum, assessment, hiring, and lab safety. I have written regular assessment reports and helped develop rubrics for assessment of courses. I have been an academic advisor for students in my own major, as well as more general academic advising for all incoming freshmen engineering students. I am very familiar with the transition from high school to college, including the many pitfalls and obstacles that young adults face. I am also a life member of the Society of Women Engineers, and serve as Faculty Advisor for 2 student organizations at URI. In this capacity, I have engaged in K-12 STEM outreach initiatives for over 25 years, including coordinating Girl Scout Badge Days, contributing to Teacher training events for science kits, and visiting our own SK classrooms with hands-on science experiments and guest lectures. Ask me about the time that we led a strawberry DNA extraction experiment for the entire 6th grade, or about the "pi day" lesson in 3rd grade science last year on March 14th! For the past 10 years I have been elected to serve on the Audit Committee for the Kingston Fire District.

Paid for by the Campaign to Elect Valerie M. Speredelozzi

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401-515-5794

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