The Sky is the Limit

Jon Creisher is a mechanical engineer, a husband and father to four children, and an active community member. Now he can add Wausau School Board member to that growing list of roles.

Like countless others, Creisher grew frustrated with his district’s response to COVID-19 and their refusal to give parents and students the opportunity to return to school in-person should they choose to do so. He was shocked when he learned how much control the local school board had over his children.

“It really scared me that this was capable of happening here in my own community and it just made me realize that I can’t just sit around and be a couch critic. I can’t just sit on social media and criticize the school board. I need to take action,” Creisher said. And that is exactly what he did.

The impact of seemingly endless closures on his own children and on others in the community became the catalyst to stand up to the current school board and stand for change in his district.

“I’m an engineer by background, a very common sense person. I grew up in a military family, things were pretty cut and dry for me. And it just didn’t make sense to me. How could these other school districts provide what they knew was best for the students and their staff with both a virtual and an in-person option so that people could make the choice and our district couldn’t do it?” Creisher asked.

He challenged the school board to understand why they were making certain decisions and learned very early on how toxic the culture had become within the district.

“I had teachers reaching out to me very early on in this process telling me that everything we were saying online and on social media was true, but these teachers were afraid to speak up for themselves because of fear of ostracization from their peers, who might be in the teachers union.”

Yet he claims that what really pushed him over the edge was just seeing how slow decisions were being made and obviously the clear politics that were at play on this particular school board. 

“It didn’t have to be as divisive as it was. It could have been a lot simpler. We could have sat down and talked and tried to sort some of these things out in a more respectful manner, but the members we were up against chose to make it very political and be condescending towards parents.”

He attended American Majority’s candidate training where he learned how to put together a team and surround himself with people who were going to help lift the load along the campaign trail and once in office as well.

“It was very refreshing to work with people and build that team,” he told us. “I think we knocked our campaign out of the park and it showed in the votes.”

In Creisher’s bid for office, he ran conjointly with two other like-minded candidates and American Majority trainees, Karen Vanderberg and Cody Nikolai. 

“It was a pleasure getting to know Karen and Cody. It was refreshing to be with people that want to see strong student outcomes and see the district move in a direction of excellence.”

Creisher, along with Vanderberg and Nikolai all won their respective races and will be joining the Wausau School Board in Wisconsin. 

In addition to his desire to get kids back in schools, Creisher is also passionate about giving students the tools they need to succeed in life while they are in school.

“I want the children and the students in this district to have every opportunity to go to school, get an education, and pursue their passions and their dreams and use their abilities and their talents to pursue those dreams. And that starts with a good education.”

He continued, “I just want students and families to know the sky is the limit and I want to provide every opportunity for these students to succeed and pursue those dreams.”

His vision was shared not only by the candidates running with him, but also by his community. The amount of support their candidacy received staggered both their own campaign as well as the opposition.

“We really had a great following of constituents and family members, and grandparents and aunts and uncles who were really engaged and knew what was going on in the school district and they didn’t appreciate it.”

Creisher saw firsthand how important having a team is to running a successful campaign. You must juggle so many aspects at the same time so it is essential to be prepared.

“You cannot do this alone and thankfully we had support. I certainly, and Karen and Cody did as well, put countless hours, hundreds if not thousands of hours, into this process but it would have been triple that if we didn’t have the people supporting us that we did.”

From our training, he learned the importance of preparedness when running a campaign. Things such as recruiting volunteers, fundraising, and crafting your message are essential for a candidate to run an effective campaign.

“If you’re going to run a good campaign, you’d better have your I’s dotted and your T’s crossed and have a team in place to help you accomplish those goals. By the time we were getting close to the election, we probably had 75-100 volunteers knocking on doors for us, we had a great literature campaign, signs, TV and radio ads. We were very blessed by the community and the donations we received to be able to do those things and get our message out.”

That message wasn’t supported by everyone in the community. Hateful, slanderous things were said about the candidates, and Jon Creisher in particular, on more than one occasion – all of which were completely fabricated and without a basis in reality.

Yet their campaign rose above the childish name-calling and won with nearly 1,000 more votes than any other contenders – a very impressive feat for a local election.

“It would have been nice to confront and engage some of these folks who wanted to spread lies and these nasty name callings, but that’s one thing that Karen taught me was that some things are better left unsaid,” Creisher explained.

Now Creisher will have to work alongside several of the individuals who participated in mudslinging during the campaign. When asked how he intends to interact with them going forward, he said, “We’ll work hard and get things done and move the district in the right direction whether they want to participate or not.”

His determination to improve the education and the opportunities for the students in his community has not wavered. If anything, it has strengthened. With the tools gained at American Majority’s training, he is equipped to lead and encourages others to do the same.

“I hope people realize that you can’t just sit back and allow things to happen,” he said. “Maybe you do need to come forward and run for school board, or maybe donate, or maybe you donate your time and talents to help people who want to run for school board that you support.”

Now he doubts there will ever be a day going forward where he isn’t involved in making decisions for his community.

“It’s tough to keep yourself engaged but here at the local level there is so much control over things that directly impact you, even more so than at the federal level. It happens right here at the local level.”

 

To take a training like the one Jon received, you can find our training calendar HERE or request a training in your community HERE. We also have online courses available 24/7 that can be taken at your own pace and from the comfort of your own home!