Rebecca Proudfit has been appointed to the Peoria Unified governing board to fill former member Rebecca Hill's seat.
Proudfit was appointed to the board by Maricopa County School Superintendent Steve Watson.
A welcome reception will be held for Proudfit, 5:30 p.m., Nov. 16 at the District Administration Center lobby, 6330 W. Thunderbird Road.
Her term will run through Dec. 31, 2024.
"Becky Proudfit brings the kind of excitement about public education that our school communities love to see. I trust she will be a productive and fully engaged board member, and continue her success in education leadership on behalf of the district," said Maricopa County School Superintendent Steve Watson.
In September, PUSD governing board announced three finalists for the seat of Hill, who resigned Aug. 24.
At the completion of a closed-door executive session Sept. 7, the board released three names: Matthew Bullock, David Jonagan and Rebecca Osuna.
Bullock and Jonagan were former school board members and Osuna is an educator.
These names were recommended to Watson and the Maricopa County Education Service Agency.
Watson had final approval on filling the vacancy by choosing from the three final candidates or the more than 25 candidates who submitted to the district.
He may also choose a person who did not go through the district process and submitted directly to MCESA.
In this case, Watson chose Proudfit, who submitted her application to the district.
For the last few years, she has been a speaker on National Time Out for Women tour geared to women of faith, and before that worked on the Cultivate A Good Life podcast, according to her resume.
Additionally, she was the president of the parent group at Candeo Schools, and worked at the Walt Disney Company on the team that created the implementation for the plan for the FastPass system at Walt Disney World, her resume said.
In her application, she said effective communication, mutual respect, and relatability are vital to the success of any collaborative effort.
"I am committed to upholding the values of integrity, excellence, equity, and collaboration," she said in her application. "I gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the board members' accomplishments including being willing to stand up as leaders in our community. I humbly offer my skillset to build upon this success by respectfully integrating into the existing collaborative framework."
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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