WMU alum comes back to stump

By Megan McDonald
Western Herald

Chris Praedel speaks at the Lee Honors College campaigning for State Representative, 60th District. Joe Wei Looi/Western Herald

Former Western Student Association president Chris Praedel spoke Wednesday night at the Lee Honors College about the importance of education and jobs in his cam-paign in the upcoming Democratic primary for the 60th district of the Michigan House of Representatives.

A Kalamazoo native, Praedel grew up in the community and went through the Kalamazoo Public School system and continued his education at Western Michigan University where he studied business management and public policy.

Upon graduation, Praedel accepted a job in the Teach for America program, where he got the opportunity to teach second and third grade at under-resourced schools in Los Angeles and in the southside of Chicago.

Praedel said that the most passionate part of his campaign is making sure that Michigan is strongly invested in education in the coming years.
“Out of the 110 members of Michigan State Representatives, there are only seven members that have ever been educators, and a third of all our tax dollars goes toward education,” Praedel said. “That is just not right to me.”

If elected, Praedel hopes to bring his experience as a leader and an educator to the table and says he will be on every committee involving education.
Praedel wore a shirt to the event with a picture of the state of Michigan on it thaty read, “Amer-ica’s High Five,” to show his dedication to the community and hope for the future.

“I remain extremely optimistic about our state in our ability to get out of this economic crisis,” Praedel said.

“You have to hit rock bottom to bounce back. We have what it takes, we have the talent and I believe in our ability to bounce back high. I really want to be a leader when that happens.”

WMU graduate student Coty Dunten has known Praedel for years and said that he trusts him to act with the best interests of the community in mind.
“Chris is one the most passionate people I know,” Dunten said. “I see the need right now for someone who cares about our community and will listen to people of all levels, go to Lansing and bring back results.”

Praedel said he has plans to complete his master’s degree in teaching in May 2010. He is also a member of the WMU Alumni Association, the Kalamzoo Democratic Party, the Michigan De-mocratic Party, and has volunteered in the last two campaign seasons for the Kalamazoo City Commission for several candidates.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Apr 1 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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