My name is Mark A. Leach and I am a candidate for Weld RE-4 District D Board of Education.
I moved to Windsor, CO in 2014 with my family. I have a son who attends elementary school within the district and I love what the schools and community have to offer. I volunteer my time with Field Day events and volunteer coach youth sports in the district. I may have coached your children at some point.
I proudly joined the U.S. Army at 17 years old and served for 8 years as a Biomedical Engineer and in Medical Logistics while earning my Bachelor of Science at Tarleton State University in Texas. I became a licensed teacher in Texas while applying to graduate school at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania where I earned my Master of Science in Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Science.
Following graduate school, I was lucky to have worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center as an Exercise Physiologist & Research Scientist, conducting clinical testing and strength and conditioning for U.S. and International Partner Astronauts for 8 years. I was also on a team that designed a new piece of exercise equipment that currently flies on the International Space Station and was directly responsible for training crew members on how to use the equipment and designing exercise programming. During my time with NASA, I worked with people from the Japanese Space Agency, European Space Agency, Russian Space Agency, and Canadian Space Agency. I’m well versed in bringing people from diverse backgrounds together for common goals.
After 8 years at NASA, I moved into healthcare, following my drive to serve people with clinical needs and grew into progressively higher roles as Director of Cardiovascular Health & Wellness, Director of Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehabilitation, and eventually Senior Practice Manager of the largest cardiology group in the state of Colorado, where I’ve managed budgets over $16 Million annually with a tremendous geographic footprint that extended into Nebraska and Wyoming.
My Basic Views:
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Here in Weld RE-4, over 30% of our students are considered overweight/obese and they simply are not getting enough physical activity. As a member of the Weld RE-4 Board of Education it will be my ambition to increase awareness of health and wellness issues that our community faces, along with increasing structured physical activity for all students across the district.
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I’ve also been directly involved in Covid-19 research and can guide the district in protecting the best interests of our students and faculty members in the event another health crisis should emerge. I am called to serve our children and our community to promote successful young adults who will be strong and resilient contributors to the workforce after they leave Weld RE-4 schools.
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I believe that to create a strong competitive alumnus body, we must focus on things that matter to the U.S. workforce. Math, Science, Literacy, Languages, Health & Fitness are the backbone of a healthy, resilient, and competitive market. Our children are the resource to protect our future and I will invest my time and effort to bring them to the top of the candidate board for jobs they seek.
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With the passing of the Bond, the community has entrusted tremendous assets to the school district to build new schools. I will work to provide transparent oversight to prevent misappropriation of funds, while building an exciting new future for our kids and maintaining responsible stewardship over taxpayer dollars.
