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Ryan and Jessica have been residents of Pickerington for almost 15 years and their 3 children all currently attend Pickerington schools.  Their daughter Brooklyn is in 6th grade at Toll Gate Middle School.  Their daughter, Cadence, is in 4th grade at Toll Gate Elementary School.  Their son, Jackson, is in 3rd grade at Toll Gate Elementary School.  Rounding out the Holstine Family is Max, our 1 year old German Shepherd.

Ryan graduated from Chillicothe High School and earned his Bachelors of Arts from Capital University in Psychology and Criminology.  A few years later, Ryan completed his Masters of Business Administration from Franklin University.  

After college, Ryan began his career in Human Services and worked for the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services as a case manager and supervisor.  Ryan also deployed to Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as a DOD Civilian.

Ryan is an IT Project Manager for a large financial services company.  Ryan has almost 15 years of experience managing large scale IT projects from concept to implementation.  Ryan routinely monitors budgets and financial performance to ensure that his projects are delivered within the provided budget.  This involves actively managing resources and scope to deliver exactly what was asked for and within the budget available.

 
Over the past 5 years, Ryan has been an active member of the Toll Gate Elementary School PTSO.  During this time, Ryan has actively worked with teachers, administrators and families to plan PTSO events.   

Ryan is an active member of Seton Parish and has served the Parish in many capacities including being a member of Pastoral Council, teaching religious education, and helping to plan and organize the Seton Family Festival.  

Ryan has been extremely active in youth athletics as both a parent and a coach.  Ryan has coached soccer for PASA, softball for PYAA, and basketball for I9.  

Ryan served for 3 years as a trustee for the Winding Creek Homeowners Association.  During this time, he worked with residents to approve new construction designs, ensure the neighborhood was maintained and to locate a new management company to facilitate the HOA management. 

When Ryan has spare time, he loves to read and is an avid bibliophile.  Ryan also trains in taekwondo at Pickerington ATA Black Belt Academy and hopes to earn his 1st degree Black Belt in 2022.

Community Growth:

The Pickerington Local School District does not have any approval authority for the growth in our community but we can have a seat at the table to provide guidance on the impact to the schools.  Ryan would like to see a partnership between PLSD and the City of Pickerington and Violet Township.  This partnership would allow a board member or district official to attend their Zoning Committee meetings to provide guidance on the impact of new developments on the schools they will feed into.  This allows Pickerington Local Schools to have as much advance knowledge as possible and it provide an opportunity to provide feedback to the governing entities.  

Covid-19 Mask Requirements:

Pickerington Local Schools began with a plan for the 2021-2022 school to make masks optional and then shifted their policy right before school started.  This has created some discord within the PLSD community.  To be clear, the Superintendent made this decision, not the board.  Ryan's personal belief is that parents know what is best for their children.  This isn't an anti-masking stance, this is a parental rights stance.  Covid-19 will not be going away and we need to find a balance between physical and mental health and social development.  If you would like your children to wear a mask, please have them do so.  If you would prefer that your children do not wear a mask, that is your right as a parent.  After the first few days of school, it is blatantly apparent that not all kids, bus drivers and teachers are wearing them.  Either we all mask or we don't.  Children get off the bus and those few that are wearing them, immediately take them off and keep interacting with their friends.  Not to mention that every extracurricular activity that I have observed, doesn't require a mask.  This is akin to putting a Band-Aid on a bursting dam.  Ryan's personal belief is not district policy.

Critical Race Theory:

There is currently a movement within the community to have PLSD add Critical Race Theory to our curriculum.  This is another question that is often asked.  Ryan does not support the addition of Critical Race Theory to the curriculum that our students are taught.  Before you stop reading, here is why.  Critical Race Theory is a graduate level topic that is discussed in law school.  That would indicate the content is inappropriate for a K-12 audience.  Ryan knows this because he studied it in his undergraduate coursework for my degree in Criminology.  Just the brief exposure to CRT was controversial for his class of students in their early 20s.  

Also, our schools are tasked with teaching children to pass standardized tests.  As a district, we have aligned with meeting standards provided by the Ohio State Board of Education, the Ohio General Assembly and the Federal Department of Education.  This creates an environment where the vast majority of the education provided, is geared towards providing our children with the information needed to show progress and pass the required tests.  Quite frankly, we don't have enough time in the day to cover what is required.  Adding in additional curriculum that doesn't aid in meeting the standards that our district is expected to meet, isn't in our districts best interest.  

College Prep vs Technical School:

Most of the statistics that we use to determine the success of our schools, revolve around graduation rates, test scores and college attendance.  This is not the only way to provide an education and we should be encouraging more students to learn a trade.  For some reason, there has been a perceived stigma attached with learning a trade versus getting ready to attend college.  Ryan would like to push to end this stigma.  Ryan would much rather teach our kids a viable skill set that they can use upon graduation than push a student to try and attend college when that may not be in their best interest.  A college education is certainly a valuable goal but it is not for everyone.  How many times have you wished you had someone in the family that knows a trade when you have had an issue at home with your car, HVAC, hot water heater, etc...  These skills are extremely valuable and provide a great future income for our students.