Kristin Siegel is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.
Kristin Siegel has been chosen as the Virginia honoree of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year program for her work bringing attention to the lack of funding in Staunton’s school system.
She’s been active in her children’s schools since moving to Staunton in 2013. She learned the importance of education from her parents — her dad is a retired public school teacher and her mom put herself through nursing school.
Siegel first found out that there was a budget shortage in the school division in February 2022. In Virginia, school boards do not have the authority to raise their own revenue, relying instead on local city councils to appropriate funding.
In 2022, there was a $600,000 difference in what Staunton City Schools was asking for and what the city was prepared to give. Siegel led a group of concerned parents in a campaign asking the city to make up the difference.
That campaign led to a movement with yard signs popping up around town urging the city to “Fully Fund Staunton City Schools” and “Make Staunton City Schools a Priority.” The activism gave Siegel a sense of purpose, helping find her niche. It also helped with the funding.
Speakers showed up at both council and school board meetings urging Staunton’s elected officials to fully fund the schools. A petition asking council to properly fund schools got nearly 2,000 signatures. Community members sent emails to city council demanding they do their part in meeting the school system’s budget request.
The city listened. Mayor Andrea Oakes told The News Leader in March 2022 that she ran on listening to the people and, “boy, they’re making their voices loud and clear” on the school budget issue. Eventually the city and the school division resolved their differences, making up the funding gap.
Siegel wanted to find ways to keep the momentum going. She decided to do that by running for an open seat on the school board. In November she received the most votes out of five candidates. She took her seat on the in January.
So many strong, courageous people have paved the way for me, but I doubt a single one of them would give any credit to themselves in this way. My mother is the first example in my life. At a young age, she demonstrated the importance of using your voice to advocate for those things in which you believe strongly. She pulled me along to attend protest events, and while we no longer have the same core beliefs, I will always credit her with modeling courage, standing firm in your beliefs and demonstrating the importance of community activism.
During my time serving as a Jesuit volunteer and working in the field of domestic violence advocacy, I met so many women who modeled civic engagement well — who used their entire lives to fight for the rights of others, and to this day, I remain in awe of those individuals.
In my hometown, I need to credit the actions of our local school board who, despite significant challenges, held true to upholding inclusivity by changing the name of our local high school from that of a Civil War general to one that represents all citizens of our local town, despite many voices in opposition.
Patrick Hite/The News Leader
I have many “proudest moments” that stem from different aspects of my life. I am continuously proud of my children, who demonstrate perseverance while remaining kind and inclusive.
My proudest community moment was the amazing outpouring of support and encouragement from our little town to rally behind our public schools and teachers and to push for appropriate funding. To be able to play a small role in inspiring others to find their voices and their activism was one of the most rewarding feelings, and to do it in a way that our goals were realized was the icing on the cake.
My proudest personal moment was winning a seat on our school board. To see people recognized the hard work I put into educating myself about our schools’ challenges and successes, as well as being trusted to carry on the great work that our board had already started, was overwhelming.
Courage to me means standing up for and fighting for what is right regardless of the personal sacrifice or outcomes. Courage isn’t always being the loudest voice in the room, but it means using whatever platform you have to effect change and to work for the betterment of society. Courage means not sitting idly by, but taking action and not being deterred if the outcome you want to achieve isn’t attained right away. It’s continuing to push for that change in the face of adversity.
“You are stronger than you believe” — this helps me to overcome personal, physical and mental challenges and allows me to push through. Many of our limitations in life are limitations put on us by our own beliefs. When we can push past those mental, or sometimes physical restrictions, we can truly see what we are capable of.
I look up to anyone who is willing to be unapologetic and unwavering in their desire to create a more just, equitable and fair society for all around them. I am more apt to look up to and respect those individuals working at the grassroots and local levels to enact change than I am to look up to someone with an already large platform. Change comes from the bottom up.
It’s really important to surround yourself with people who are supportive of you and allow you to be your authentic self. No one who wants to enact change in this world does so without a tribe of strong, supportive people behind them. These are the people who will continue to build you up when you feel that you can’t keep going.
Overcoming adversity means staying true to your core beliefs. It is so easy to get down when change doesn’t happen quickly, or when you see things around you take two steps back after taking one step forward. Allow yourself to rest and recover, but never give up on the end goal.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Don’t seek out people, but be authentic and let them come to you. These will be your truest friends. Follow your intuition because it will not lead you astray. Whatever you do, be true to yourself and your core beliefs first, the rest will sort itself out.
Published
Updated
