The following parents are interested in serving on the Lake Carolina Elementary School Improvement Council. Please read the bios below and vote using online SIC Ballot 2018. Voting will close on Friday, September 28. Thank you for your time and support for LCE!
Janice Barker
Janice Barker is a native of Columbia, S.C. She joined the United States Air Force in 1992 as a Passenger and Household Good Specialist. In 1999, she earned a BS in Business Administration from Troy State University Montgomery, AL and was simultaneously commissioned as an Air Force Officer. She was appointed as an Air Force Contracting Officer in 2000. In 2002, she received a MS in Human Resource from Central Michigan University.
Janice has held numerous leadership positions, supervised, and trained well over 200 personnel. While in the Air Force, she led and served on over 15 process improvement teams. Additionally, she has 15 hours of training in Lean Six Sigma. She proudly served 20 years in the USAF managing a plethora of complex portfolios, budgets, and projects valued as high as $1 billion. Janice retired in 2015 from the USAF culminating at the rank of Major.
Janice is the proud mother of two vivacious boys, Jonathan and Gabriel Scott. Jonathan is in fifth grade and Gabriel is in third grade.
Alicia Gripper
My name is Alicia Gripper and I would like to participate in the School Improvement Council. I am a proud graduate of Richland School District 2. I attended Richland 2 from grade school through high school. My daughter Avery is currently in first grade. I have two other daughters, my middle is Skylar she is 4 years old, and attends Lake Murray Montessori. My youngest Rielyn, is 1 years old, she stays with my mother. My husband, Ryan and I have been married for 9 years, he is also a proud graduate of Richland School District 2. I attended University of South Carolina for my BS in Nursing, then completed my MS in nursing a few years later with University of Cincinnati. I have been a practicing Nurse Practitioner in the community for the last 5 years. We will also be opening an Eggs Up Grill with our partners at Killian Crossing in a few months. I assist my husband by being the team mom for our girls soccer teams, which he coaches.
My name is Avarie Pressley and I have two children that attend Lake Carolina Elementary Lower Campus. I am super excited about this year and I am even more excited to join the SIC committee!!
My children are Christian Pressley who is in Mr. Carswell’s 2nd grade class and Journee Pressley who is in Mrs. Knight’s 1st grade class. I am a full-time stay at home mom with plenty of ideas and I would love to be a part of making Lake Carolina even more amazing than what it already is!
Fotuotamatane Toluao
Fotuotamatane Toluao is a pacific islander of American Samoa. Serves in the United States Army as a recruiter. He serves as the Army’s ambassador within the community, determines applicant enlistment eligibility and counsel’s applicant on enlistment programs and options. Since 2008, Fotuotamatane has been a human resources specialist in the United States Army where he was deployed to Iraq for two campaigns, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. His bi-cultural background and focus on community collaboration has led him to a number of volunteer opportunities and community leadership roles. Fotuotamatane is also a small business owner and a co-founder of TG Logoink. He specializes in logo design, screen printing, embroidery, and customized products for personal use, schools and business of all sizes around the world. Fotuotamatane is pursuing his career at Purdue Global University where he will receive his Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies.
Kim Toogood
I have two children currently attending Lake Carolina Elementary in both third grade and kindergarten. We’ve been in Columbia for 10 years and lived in the Lake Carolina neighborhood for four of those.
I’m an Air Force veteran, active in our community. I’ve served in various leadership roles within the Junior League of Columbia for seven years. I’ve recently been involved as a volunteer with the following non-profits: Our Eyes Were Opened, Boy Scouts Indian Waters Council, Lighthouse for Life, PAALS, The Family Shelter and Junior Achievement.
I recently facilitated the change of the dual school zones between both upper and lower campus along Kelly Mill Rd. with the Department of Transportation to become one large zone. I'm hopeful this change will further reduce any risks to our LCE families with children who walk home. I served on the PTO board for the 2017-2018 year as the vice president and enjoy being the homeroom parent for both of our boys' classrooms. I’m interested in joining the School Improvement Council and being involved in a different capacity at the school.
