Vasavi Chakka's 2013 run for the District 204 school board

Community archive, March 2013. The election described here took place on April 9, 2013; campaign links and contact details have been removed as stale.

The candidate

In the spring of 2013, Vasavi Chakka — a Naperville community member and friend of this site's contributors — ran for the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education.

Chakka was a Sunday school teacher (Balvihar sevika) at the Chinmaya Mission, a former PTSA president at Neuqua Valley High School, and a Senior IT Business Manager with 18 years of experience. Both of her children had already graduated from District 204 schools; she described her candidacy as being about other people's kids.

Her platform centered on preparing students for "global competition," with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills and a well-rounded education. Friends who supported her described her grandfather — a community leader who had served alongside Gandhi during India's independence struggle and later became a monk — as the source of her passion for education and community service.

The race

Seven candidates competed for four open seats on the board, and voters could choose more than one. Chakka's supporters campaigned on her being an experienced working mother and a role model for young people — noting, among other things, that the position was unpaid volunteer work.

This post ran as a supporter-written appeal ahead of election day, in the site's long tradition of carrying community voices from Naperville's Indian diaspora.