Jones named Citizen of the Year

Chris Jones, chair of the Sisters School Board, was awarded the prestigious Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award Wednesday evening in a "surprise party" ceremony at the school district office, attended by dozens of enthusiastic supporters.

Chamber Executive Director Erin Borla said, "Every year the chamber takes time to recognize those exceptional things that have and continue to happen because of people, regular people, who are committed, passionate, talented and effective in their positions. Every year we recognize an individual that reflects outstanding service to the greater community above and beyond the normal course of action."

Borla continued, "In Sisters, our school board chair is the unsung and unrecognized hero of our community. She has had an incredible impact in her position. As our schools make progress, and get better and better, there is little or no recognition for the roll that our school board has had in that success."

Sisters Schools Superintendent Jim Golden said, "When I think about Chris Jones I think of the Rotary logo which is 'service above self.' She is bright, she is intelligent, she is compassionate, and she always puts kids first."

Jones was elected to the school board in 2007 and has served as chair since 2008. She moved from Washington D.C. to Sisters in 2003 with her husband Chuck and their two children to slow down their lives, cut back on travel and spend more time with their kids, as she said in an earlier interview. She may have cut down on travel but she hasn't slowed down much. Those that work with Chris estimate that she spends 30 to 60 hours a week on board activities.

After earning her PhD in economics from Harvard, Jones spent 13 years at the World Bank overseeing social loan programs that ranged between 100 million to one billion dollars. The challenges of the ever-decreasing Sisters school budget may seem small by comparison, but she takes them no less seriously.

"We are in an incredibly fortunate position in Sisters due to the local option. The community has already given us outstanding support," said Jones in an earlier interview. "There is a great volunteer spirit in Sisters. As the budget tightens there will be considerable need for community volunteers in programs such as ASPIRE, the library and our sports programs."

The ceremony was a rare chance to see Jones in the spotlight. Her style is to work outside the limelight.

"Chris does all the work, she give all the credit to everyone and takes almost none to herself. She has been able to take this very diverse and unusual group of board members and pull them together into a very strong unit," said board member Cheryl Stewart. "She brings out the best in all of us. Everybody in this community is important to her."

"It has been a pleasure to serve with Christine. She encourages us to work together to solve problems," said long-time school board member Glen Lasken. "She is an example of what makes this town great; people with skill and talent that show up and volunteer their time to make this a better town. We seem to attract people like that."

Andrew Gorayeb, the board's newest member, said, "I've been on four major boards over the last 20 years; two in San Francisco and two here (in Sisters). I've never enjoyed working with someone so much. She (Chris) is fair and competent, and doesn't have an agenda....and she understands that we are here to represent our constituents."

Normally, this presentation would have been made as the keynote of Friday's annual Chamber gala, but Jones needed to be in Texas on Friday so the presentation was moved to Wednesday, just ahead of the scheduled school board meeting.