For Renton resident Denise Eider parental involvement in education means having her two children do their homework at the kitchen table where she can oversee them and help out when needed.

It also means frequently asking their teachers what they need help with in the classroom. Sometimes it results in doing art projects for cultural night or cooking for the teacher’s appreciation lunch.

This type of involvement is the kind Eider wants to encourage and champion as her cause running for District 4 director of the Renton School Board. She is running unopposed in the Nov. 2 election.

Although she has no elective experience, her commitment to the community and education is evident in her activities. The single mother of two children has lived in the West Hill community for four years and in that time has become embedded in the community. From Chamber of Commerce activities to work with the Renton/Skyway Boys and Girls Club and volunteering in schools, she’s dedicated time to better the environment for those around her.

Parental and community involvement in education are paramount for her.

“I think that helps to build a stronger school,” she said.

Eider also believes that excitement about education is infectious. She’s encouraged by the fact that all the teachers she’s met really want to be in the district. She wants to tap into that excitement that should in her estimation radiate out to parents and students.

She is still familiarizing herself with district issues. For example, she is still examining the disparities in state assessment scores. In District 4, which she would represent, Bryn Mawr and Lakeridge Elementary schools have some of the lowest science assessment percentages for fifth graders.

Eider hopes to learn what’s worked in the past from other board members, use community input and insert her own experience to guide her recommendations as a School Board member.

In her professional experience she is an account executive for Ticor, a title insurance company in Renton.

She is excited about representing the West Hill area, which hasn’t been represented on the School Board by a direct resident for 16 to 18 years, said Eider. Before moving to West Hill, Eider lived in Puyallup. She’s been a Washingtonian since 1992. Eider is from Binghamton, N.Y.

She hopes to extend her focus on parental and community involvement to beyond West Hill to the entire district. She wants students in the district to be life-long learners, competitive in the world around them and future business leaders in Renton.

“So, we want to make sure they’re well-rounded and that they’ve had support,” she said. “And that they’re interested in coming back and being invested in their community that they grew up in.”

Her own children think her involvement in their education is “really neat” and she thinks it makes a big difference.

Eider will attend School Board Candidate workshops put on by the Washington State School Director’s Association in July. She has reached out to current School Board member Pam Teal and former board member Rep. Marcie Maxwell for advise.

Eider will take office in January, unless there’s a successful write-in campaign against her for her nonpartisan position.