A Professional Engineer

Last week, I had 9 words on southdacola.com. "Sara is a well-meaning mother, which is great..." I am so much more than that!

I grew up on a dairy farm and spent many hours alongside my father and my grandfather. My father served on the Great River Energy Power Board of Directors and my mother was a nursing home administrator in Duluth, MN. They agreed upon a board game for my three sisters, and I, called the "We Girls Can Do Anything Game."

While in MN, I loved education and school activities, getting involved in both arts and athletics. I played the clarinet, oboe, and the tuba (just for the FB games). I still play both piano and concertina accordion. I narrated a play and joined the Math Club. I played volleyball, basketball, softball, and completed in track and field.

I was Class of 2001 Valedictorian at Cromwell-Wright High School in Cromwell, MN. From there I went into a hands-on program that was making strides in engineering education. The foundation in engineering concepts that I received from there are still so invaluable. I graduated with an Associate of Science in Pre-Engineering from Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids, MN and was Named Outstanding Student of the Year in 2003. It sounded like the 34 points I had made during a basketball game was a factor in the award but I'm sure my 3.94 GPA made me a great candidate for it as well.

From Grand Rapids, I was the first student to ever transfer to SDSU in Brookings, SD. I have a BS in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from SDSU in 2005. This well-rounded engineering degree touched on electrical engineering and circuits, mechanical engineering like horsepower and torque, structural engineering in wood-framed structures (snowloads and windloads), surface water drainage, irrigation, pumps and water engineering.

MS in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from SDSU in 2006. My thesis studied runoff from feedlots and the utilization of vegetated filters for treatment of runoff.

I was a member of the 2005-2006 Jackrabbit Women's Basketball Team. I'm super passionate about the teamwork that it takes for women's basketball teams to win.

Though I studied agricultural engineering, I quickly developed a passion for municipal wastewater engineering and then nearly five years ago, I was in an interview at my current employer where he said "If you can design a wastewater pump, you can design a water pump."

Due to my husband's work ethic, I was able to work part time and take extended maternity leaves- two years each for each our third and our fourth. So yes, I am a wife of 18 years now, a mom of four children, and I also have experience using our libraries, our parks, our dog parks.

After my first extended maternity leave, I worked for the City of Sioux Falls in Engineering. I was a sponge for the history of this City and why or why not things were the way they were in some situations.

After my second extended maternity leave, having summers off looked like a great option for parenting three boys and a girl, so I taught a year of middle school at Patrick Henry Middle School under an alternative route to a teaching certificate. I learned so much in that year, including that I have the personality and passions of a teacher. Today, these passions are filled with teaching young engineering staff.

I've played 30 years of basketball, the most recently being played under the City of Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Program. I bring a very strong, well-rounded, list of experience and capability to a city council position, and it is most definitely due to the combination of being a wife, a mom, and an engineer.