About Josephine

Hello and welcome to my campaign's webpage! My name is Josephine Okot and I am a longtime Portland resident and a first time candidate for office. I am running for Portland School Board At-Large. My family and I immigrated to the Maine from Sudan in 1996 and attended Portland schools, including King Middle School and Portland High School. I'm 29 years old, have two children, one of whom attends the Ocean Avenue School. I graduated from University of Southern Maine with a degree in social work. Since graduating, I have worked for United Somali Women of Maine advocating as a multicultural youth educator. In my spare time, I teach African dance and volunteer on the boards of the Maine Center for African Heritage and other organizations. My top issues are:

1. Working to prevent school violence, particularly bullying. Our children need to feel safe in schools and we need a holistic approach to the issue. As a parent, I take this issue very personally.
2. Our schools need stronger ties for mentoring programs. There is a direct link between having a mentor in a child's life and graduating from high school. Incorporating and supporting both programs and mentors will increase our graduation rate and help fulfill our city's promise to our children.
3. We need low or no cost public transportation for middle and high school students to save money.  Incorporating more and more of our teenagers into the public transportation system will save us money by eliminating some busing. It will also encourage all students to explore our city and love the city as I do.

Thank you for your time. Please vote for me on November 8 for Portland, Maine School Board At-Large and consider making a donation to my campaign!