For nearly four decades, Heidi Brooks served the town’s school system in various administrative roles. Now, she’s hoping to bring those leadership skills to the Select Board if elected on April 5.

The lifelong town resident said her decision to run for office was out of a desire to “instill Dartmouth pride” by using the board to encourage more residents to get involved in town government.

“There’s an apathy about being involved and that needs to change,” she said.

Brooks also hopes to provide a “female voice to the committee” as the five-member board is currently composed of all men.

In 2020, Brooks retired after 36 years working in the Dartmouth Public Schools system — spending the last dozen years as principal of Potter School.

Her other leadership roles include 10 years as principal of Cushman School, and a year as a co-principal at Quinn when the Cushman and Gidley Schools were closed. She also worked in a variety of roles at Potter, from teacher to assistant principal.

Along with working in the school system, Brooks served on the Library Building Committee and helped oversee the construction and repairs of the new North Dartmouth Library branch.

“Long before the term was coined, I truly believe I lived in the spirit of Dartmouth Pride — and on occasion, have been known to absolutely bleed green,” she said.

If elected to the Select Board, one of Brooks’ top priorities will be to work on expanding mental health services. To achieve this, she would look to collaborate with the town’s Youth Advocate to see what kind of support would be required.

The Select Board candidate added that she would also like to have the town collaborate with local organizations to help families affected by the opioid crisis find treatments and hopefully recover from their addictions.

“This is a crisis that does not get away from anyone,” she said. “Anyone has the possibility to be impacted in any community.”

On whether or not to keep the Dartmouth High’s Indian, Brooks said she’d be in favor of maintaining the name and logo.

“I’ve felt that we use the current Indian logo with respect — and it is revered,” Brooks said.

If the School Committee plans to keep the logo, Brooks said she would like to see officials work with area tribes to update curriculum to include more Native American culture and history. 

Currently, indigenous history is taught primarily in the third grade.

The former Potter principal added that she would also like to see the school ensure the logo and history are treated with respect.

“At no time do we, or [students], conduct themselves in ways that demean that history,” Brooks said.