Jon Allen

Local father and Grace Point minister Jon Allen is running for one of four open school board seats at Park County School District 1.

Allen is a Wyoming native who lived across the state before relocating to Powell and falling in love with the area. With the exception of a three year span where he moved into the Bighorns to work at the Camp Bethel Christian camp, Allen has lived in the Big Horn Basin since 2001. He has served in children’s ministry since 1985 and is currently an associate pastor at Grace Point Church since 2009.

“I’ve dedicated the majority of my adult life to serving kids,” Allen said. “We’ve got to hand down what’s important and how to live successful lives and I think the way our district has been moving has been good for our students.”

Allen has experience working as a board member of various organizations, including the Powell Chamber of Commerce for four years in the early 2000s as well as on a school board for a small, Christian private school in Cheyenne for several years before moving to Powell.

Two of Allen’s children graduated from Powell High School and he has four grandkids in the district, with the youngest in fourth grade and the oldest a sophomore. His wife, Mary, works at Southside Elementary as an administrative assistant in the front office and one of his daughters, Ashley, is a student teacher at Parkside Elementary. Alongside his family’s involvement in the district, he also has experience working as a substitute bus driver for the transportation department.

“It’s a lot easier not to run, it’s absolutely a commitment,” Allen said. “Knowing the job that all the staff in our district have in order to teach these kids and to help them be successful in life is very important to me.”

Allen spoke about the importance he places on the idea of being a servant leader and supporting the next generation of students. Continuing to work together with parents, the community and district staff in a nonpartisan, student-focused way is Allen’s vision for the school board.

“God gave us two ears and one mouth and we’re supposed to use them in that order,” Allen said. “I think we have to listen and understand that there’s reasons for people feeling the way that they do and meeting them where they are.”

Although Allen applauded the district’s proactive leadership in recent years, he expressed concerns regarding the recent actions taken across the state regarding school funding, impacts to staffing regarding workload capacity and equipping staff and students to manage emerging technological and social changes.

Despite his apprehensions, he expressed confidence in district leadership and noted the need to preserve local decision-making and the importance of working together for the students.

“I don't know that I've ever sat on a board where there haven't been competing ideas, so I’d anticipate and even hope that the members of the school board are going to have different approaches,” Allen said. “If we’re all thinking the same thing then I’m not sure we’re serving our school and our kids well. We have to have those other thoughts and ideas that we can talk through to make sure we’re getting the whole picture.”