Read about this exceptional candidate at natalie4idaho.com
“I decided to run for office as I watched Public Education become public enemy number one over the last 2 years. I believe that public education is the great equalizer and is the single greatest investment we can make as a fiscally conservative state. The children are our future.” — Natalie MacLachlan
Passionate educator, involved member, and legislative candidate. All of these accurately describe Natalie MacLachlan. But there is so much more beyond these roles that give insight into what drives her to be so engaged for her students, her colleagues, and her community, according to the Idaho Education Association.
Natalie grew up in Boise, graduating from Centennial High School and then from Boise State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Arts. After working professionally in theater in Los Angeles, she returned to Idaho and combined her two great passions-theater and teaching. Stints as a substitute teacher in Boise and West Ada, along with coaching drama at Capital High School and working at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival set the stage for her to begin teaching full-time, and she has never looked back. "I think I always knew I would be a teacher, but I wanted to invest in my other passions first," she says. "My family was over the moon when I told them was coming home, and they said being a teacher is exactly what I was meant to be."
Now in her sixth year teaching theater arts and exploratory visual arts at Lake Hazel Middle School in the West Ada School District, Natalie loves building relationships with her students. "When I can build trust and rapport, that human-to-human respect with a student, there's nothing better than that," she says. "When they feel seen, respected, and empowered by you, they in turn respect and cherish you as a person who believes in them and will always them."
Tying together her dual passions of theater and teaching gives Natalie a great sense of satisfaction and provides significant, although sometimes under the radar, benefits for her students. "I believe these kinds of courses are crucial, particularly in a world so rich with technology that can breed isolation and social insecurity," she says. "Theater is grounded in literacy, which is the responsibility of every educator. Students also learn soft skills that are valuable in the workforce. Things like how to interact socially, how to assess their feelings, how to communicate not only through language but also through tone and body language."
“As a homeowner, it breaks my heart to see young people unable to buy or rent a home, earn their independence, build their families,” Natalie said. “All of the Idaho Values we claim to uphold are not being supported by the votes of our supermajority. I didn't feel represented by my Representative.”
Natalie is eager to get Idaho back to the politics of the people, of everyday Idahoans and the issues we all agree on, affordable housing, growth that pays for itself, proactive infrastructure and quality education. She believes that balance in the Idaho legislature is the answer.
Mortal enemies rarely work well together, but if we narrow the gap and create a more level playing field, perhaps some real work can start to get done. We need more balanced representation in chairships, and all levels of decision making so that good ideas are able to be brought and heard at the table. I've been knocking doors since last summer and launched my Campaign 18 months prior to election, I have every intention of winning this District and know from my time on the doors that the time is now.
People are ready for change, ready to have Representation that works FOR ALL OF US!
Read more at natalie4idaho.com
