Lake County Gazette

Anne Geraghty Helms has won a seat on the Lake Forest School District 67 school board.

Unofficial results showed Helms (Lake Forest Caucus) has 1,129 votes compared to District 67 Excellence’s Taylor Cottam and Lori Fitzgerald who have 808 and 919 votes respectively.   

Geraghty Helms said she wanted to be part of the school board because “service to the community is part of who I am and I'm hopeful that my professional experience will offer an additional perspective to the board."

She is also in full support of getting kids back to school.

"The second (goal)  is to look at the data around any sort of learning loss that we've had in the past year," Geraghty Helms said. "And also social-emotional and what I mean by that is that our kids, even when they've been in school, haven't had opportunities to play and interact as they would in a normal year."

Geraghty Helms, a graduate of Georgetown Law School, is the current director and counsel for U.S. pro bono programs at a global law firm representing children and families who are facing issues that impact their safety and security.

"Sadly, most of my job these days is focused on issues created or exacerbated by the pandemic, like housing security and hunger," Geraghty Helms stated in a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters before she explained why she wanted to have a seat at the board. "I am a mother and I've been at home with my kids. I've seen them struggle, they've seen me struggle and so we obviously have a lot of work to do to get back to normal," she said stressing further the significance of the children returning to school.

The Lake Forest Caucus supported two incumbents and two newcomers — Geraghty Helms as one of the newcomers, under the banner of Student Success 2021.

The other three also earned a seat on the board.

Carl Kirar and Alice LeVert are currently serving as District 67 board members, and Emily Bernahl, like Helms, is a newcomer.