Meet our Board Members Continued

Rod Monroe

With a family history of teaching and a personal background in teaching, Rod Monroe’s position on the MHCCD board is no surprise.

Monroe, board member for zone 4 of the MHCC district, has served on the board since July 2005.

“Five years ago I encouraged Frank Shields to run for a seat on the board and he won that seat,” Monroe said. “Four years later he said that he was not going to run for re-election and he asked me to run for his seat. With my history of being an educator, I said I would do it.”

From 1965 to 1986, Monroe taught history and government at David Douglas High School.

“I taught college level classes,” Monroe said. “I helped developed the AP curriculum for history and government.”

During this time Monroe also became the chair of his department and an Oregon Education Association building representative.

After teaching high school, Monroe was an adjunct professor at George Fox University and Warner Pacific.

From 1991 to 2000, Monroe served on the David Douglas School Board, serving as chair in ’96 and ’97.

According to Monroe, this experience helped prepare him for his time at MHCC.

“Both David Douglas and Mt. Hood districts have tight budgets,” he said. “My background is in budgeting and finance. When I served in the legislature before that is what I did.”

According to Monroe, his experience setting aside reserves on the David Douglas board has influenced the decisions made at Mt. Hood.

According to Monroe, he has a strong commitment to early education, especially the Head Start program and Early Childhood Education.

Monroe’s wife has been a pre-school teacher and is currently the director of one.

Due to this commitment, Monroe was instrumental in getting a new Head Start facility put on the upcoming November bond.

“The original bond plan did not include the new Head Start facility,” he said. “I said it needed to be on there. It has great teachers, great kids, but it is a pretty run down facility.”

For Monroe, education is very important.

“It is the door that opens up to successful life,” he said. “True happiness is when you earn a living doing something that you enjoy doing.”

According to Monroe, he is enjoying his time on the board.

“Every member of the board really cares about education,” he said. “I don’t see any member of the board who has a personal agenda.”

Monroe is currently running for state senate, district 24, in the November elections.

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