The next four years need to usher in change as the schools begin to better prepare students for the 21st century, said Julie Keegan.

Keegan, one of three candidates for two open seats on the Worthington Board of Education, hopes voters will see her as a person who will help find new and better ways to educate Worthington students.

Gone are the days when every Worthington school was identical, she said. Instead, the schools of the future must find different ways of delivering content to meet the differing needs of students and the times in which they live.

"I think little by little the district will change so that we won't have 11 identical elementary schools," she said.

For instance, Brookside Elementary School, with its outdoor science lab, could be a science magnet school.

Or two schools could merge into one serving kindergarten through grade three and one for grades four through six. With the money saved by economies of scale, a foreign language program could be offered to both schools.

There are many possibilities, and Worthington administrators are looking at several of them, Keegan said. If elected, she said, she will be one of their greatest supporters.

The Phoenix School, which opened this fall at Perry Middle School, is perhaps just the first step in the right direction, she said. One of her four children attends the middle school alternative program.

She also has a child at Thomas Worthington High School and two at Evening Street Elementary School.

She and her husband chose to move from Dublin to Worthington three years ago after researching each school district in central Ohio. Worthington clearly stood out as the best, she said.

Keegan quickly became involved in the schools, both as a classroom volunteer and a member of the grant committee for the Worthington Educational Foundation. She has been impressed with what she has seen.

"The more people I've met, the more excited I get about working with this system," she said.

Keegan is an attorney who has chosen to stay home to rear her four children. She has the time, the interest, and the passion to make a good board member, she said.

One of the challenges during the next term will be the negotiation of a new contract with the Worthington Education Association.

She believes that Worthington teachers are paid fairly for the jobs they do. Salaries are at neither the top nor the bottom of the pay scale for teachers in central Ohio, she pointed out.

In her former district, far too many teachers lacked experience. She does not want to see that happen in Worthington.

"I'm willing to pay for the balance of teachers and hope the community is also," she said.

She knows people in Worthington who live on fixed incomes, and will always keep that in mind, she said. Still, she believes even empty nesters derive pride from having excellent schools.

Keegan grew up in Worthington. She attended Colonial Hills Elementary School and Worthingway Middle School and graduated from Worthington High School in 1985.

She received bachelors' degrees in finance and international business from Ohio State University in 1989, and a law degree from George Mason University School of Law in 1995.