Minnetonka School Board Candidate: Derek Eitreim

Editor's note: This week we feature the eight candidates running for four seats on the Minnetonka School Board. We will publish two candidates per day for four days. You can meet and grill all the candidates at our  event at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at the .

DEREK EITRIEM

Minnetonka Patch: What qualifications do you have that will make you an effective Minnetonka school board member?   

Eitriem: Having attended Clear Springs Elementary, MMW (West Jr High at the time) and graduating from MHS in 1982, I understand uniquely the legacy of excellence that defines a Minnetonka education. While this doesn't "qualify" me to serve on the Minnetonka School Board, it certainly does provide a context of understanding our history and heritage that I hope to build on. Upon graduating, I studied for a year in Europe then attended Wheaton College where I earned a B.A. in Economics.

Working for a billion-dollar corporation (Stryker) managing profit/loss statements, and previously as a small business owner (Eitreim Homes),  I've been forced to live within budgets and a competitive marketplace that relentlessly requires you to deliver a great product at a great value. My hope is to translate those skills and experiences to the Minnetonka School Board to ensure we're making economic choices that are scrutinized carefully to bring the greatest value to the students balanced with fiscal accountability to the community.

As a sales manager in the medical device industry, I oversee a team of individuals each with unique personalities, skill sets and experiences. Negotiating contracts and partnerships that are "Win-Win," establishing goals, developing strategies and training programs, assessing performance, creating accountability and providing feedback reviewed through our experiences (success and failures) is what creates results and a growing organization. I believe these skills and experiences will be integral to the successful on-going management of issues in front of our School Board.

Patch: What is the biggest issue for Minnetonka's school district? Why? 

Eitriem: In my senior year at MHS, I read "Future Shock" by Alvin Toffler. In it he describes the exponentially increasing rate of change being forced upon us. An illustration this is Moore's Law which states that the rate of growth in technology will double every two years driving social change and advances across the economy and globe.

The implication of this dynamic shows itself in many forms for today's students.  In social networking by means of Facebook, texting and twitter, in their play through X-Box, Wii, the Internet and iPads, and in the way they learn through Smartboards, Google and laptop computers. While the MHS is the same building that I attended almost 30 years ago, the student and teaching experience have changed dramatically.

This change creates a significant challenge for the School Board to ensure our teachers are equipped with not only the technology but the techniques that will most effectively engage today's students to become life-long learners who will excel at navigating the ever-changing future.

Patch: What is current Minnetonka School District leadership doing well? What could be better?

Eitriem: Minnetonka serves the students at the ends of the Bell Curve very well. This includes creating an environment of unique opportunities for students to excel. Whether it be through academics, athletics or the arts Minnetonka students are showing themselves to be among the elite across the country. This is largely the result of talented students being put into outstanding learning situations that allow their skills to flourish.

Minnetonka needs to do a better job with students in the middle of the Bell Curve. Too many of our students are not given the proportional world-class resources and focus that will give them the greatest opportunity for success.
I think we need to ask the question and explore, what would it take to make the "C" student a "B" student, or the "B" student an "A" student? I believe we can do a better job of answering that question.

Patch: How will you get input from your constituents?

Eitriem: The only way to get input is to make yourself accessible and be willing to ask question. Engaging constituents through Facebook, blogs and Twitter is one avenue. Other options include having a monthly open house where individuals could come and share their concerns, along with rotating through different PTO meetings and developing a committee of key opinion leaders to meet with regularly.

Patch: Give us a brief background of yourself.

Eitriem: I've been married for 23 years to my wife, Kathy, who I met freshman year at Wheaton College. We married five years later. Kathy graduated with an elementary education degree and taught 7 years in Texas and Colorado. We have three children—Kendall, Blake and Kirstin. Kendall is a 2011 Minnetonka graduate and is going overseas for a year of study, and Blake is in 10th grade and Kirstin is in 8th. My parents, Connie and Dick Eitreim, still live in the home I was raised in on Clear Spring Drive.

I've been in the medical device industry since 1989, working as an orthopedic sales representative. In 1999 I started Eitreim Homes which I ran concurrently while continuing to work in medical sales. We relocated to Minnesota from Colorado in 2006, where I now work with Stryker as a sales manager.

I've coached soccer and hockey over the years, and I'm a Minnetonka Booster. I grew up at Excelsior Covenant and now attend and volunteer at Wooddale Church. I have worked on a number of service projects in the area.