Meet the School Board: Cindi Hills
By Alana Huppert
Published April 26, 2019
Cindi Hills was born in Aitkin, Minnesota and graduated from AHS in 1991. In high school, Cindi participated in student council, peer helpers, band, choir, basketball, and cheerleading. After her graduation from AHS, Cindi went to CLC (at the time it was called Brainerd Community College) and graduated with an AA degree in 1993. Cindi continued with her education at Saint Cloud State University and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in applied psychology in 1995. With that degree, Cindi had originally wanted to be a school counselor, but in 2001, she began schooling at Hamline College to practice law. Cindi worked full time during the week and took her classes during the weekend. She graduated with a degree in law to be an attorney in 2005. “I am currently licensed to practice law in Minnesota and Montana,” Hills said.
Cindi got married to her husband Greg in 1996. She has three children, Hunter (grade 10), Tanner (grade 9) and Lexi (grade 7). The family has two dogs named Emma and Harper. “Because Greg and I both graduated from Aitkin, we wanted to be invested in the school,” Hills said. “When my kids started at Rippleside I started volunteering. I wanted to be a part of it all, including the bus drivers, custodians, and cooks.” Cindi believes that to bring student test scores up, the school needs to focus on the staff in all positions and ensure that they are being respected and appreciated.
Cindi is serving her second term on the school board and this is her third year as the Board Chairperson. She has about 2-3 meetings per week and she works closely with the superintendent at the high school. Cindi is in charge of scheduling times for the board to meet. She is engaged in the facilities and finance committee, personnel committee, policy committee, Aitkin Education Foundation, and the Paul Bunyan committee. “I am most involved with the personnel committee — any issues related to employees or employment laws, hiring staffing, recruitment — those things are always an ongoing and active agenda,” Hills said.
When asked about her goals for the school board, Cindi replied, “One goal is to continue to update our facilities. I believe that the facilities that we have now are impeding students learning. I’m looking forward to having the new superintendent on board.” One thing that Cindi adds to the school board is that she isn’t self-employed. “I have a large business standpoint, and I am focusing on it as a business,” she said. “I bring a different perspective to the board.” When asked about the negatives of being on the school board, Cindi replied, “The most challenging thing for me is that it's a public entity. It takes a long time to get things accomplished, to no fault of anyone.”
Cindi enjoys working with all of the staff and students at AHS. “I am proud to have graduated from here. I am proud that my children are attending,” she said. “We have a lot of things going for our school, the academics, fine arts and sports.”
Published April 26, 2019
Cindi Hills was born in Aitkin, Minnesota and graduated from AHS in 1991. In high school, Cindi participated in student council, peer helpers, band, choir, basketball, and cheerleading. After her graduation from AHS, Cindi went to CLC (at the time it was called Brainerd Community College) and graduated with an AA degree in 1993. Cindi continued with her education at Saint Cloud State University and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in applied psychology in 1995. With that degree, Cindi had originally wanted to be a school counselor, but in 2001, she began schooling at Hamline College to practice law. Cindi worked full time during the week and took her classes during the weekend. She graduated with a degree in law to be an attorney in 2005. “I am currently licensed to practice law in Minnesota and Montana,” Hills said.
Cindi got married to her husband Greg in 1996. She has three children, Hunter (grade 10), Tanner (grade 9) and Lexi (grade 7). The family has two dogs named Emma and Harper. “Because Greg and I both graduated from Aitkin, we wanted to be invested in the school,” Hills said. “When my kids started at Rippleside I started volunteering. I wanted to be a part of it all, including the bus drivers, custodians, and cooks.” Cindi believes that to bring student test scores up, the school needs to focus on the staff in all positions and ensure that they are being respected and appreciated.
Cindi is serving her second term on the school board and this is her third year as the Board Chairperson. She has about 2-3 meetings per week and she works closely with the superintendent at the high school. Cindi is in charge of scheduling times for the board to meet. She is engaged in the facilities and finance committee, personnel committee, policy committee, Aitkin Education Foundation, and the Paul Bunyan committee. “I am most involved with the personnel committee — any issues related to employees or employment laws, hiring staffing, recruitment — those things are always an ongoing and active agenda,” Hills said.
When asked about her goals for the school board, Cindi replied, “One goal is to continue to update our facilities. I believe that the facilities that we have now are impeding students learning. I’m looking forward to having the new superintendent on board.” One thing that Cindi adds to the school board is that she isn’t self-employed. “I have a large business standpoint, and I am focusing on it as a business,” she said. “I bring a different perspective to the board.” When asked about the negatives of being on the school board, Cindi replied, “The most challenging thing for me is that it's a public entity. It takes a long time to get things accomplished, to no fault of anyone.”
Cindi enjoys working with all of the staff and students at AHS. “I am proud to have graduated from here. I am proud that my children are attending,” she said. “We have a lot of things going for our school, the academics, fine arts and sports.”
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