On Monday, Dec. 13, Michelle Schweikhardt was appointed as the next Warren Town Council member. She will be filling the vacancy left by Ethan Stivers, who will be relocating to Kentucky.
Schweikhardt said she chose to apply for the council position because she wanted to do her part.
“I’ve lived in Warren my entire life. I’ve lived literally on the same street my entire life and it is such a nice town,” Schweikhardt said. “It’s a small town, it’s a family-friendly town… there’s not a lot of places like Warren I feel like and I thought this is my time to give back.”
Schweikhardt attained her bachelor’s from IPFW and was an elementary school teacher in Whitley County for nine years. She is now the Board President at Small World Preschool and stays home with her 2-year-old daughter, Harper.
Being a part of the educational field has shown Schweikhardt the importance of a good foundation, she said.
“You want a solid foundation whatever you’re in and in education you don’t think about it… oh, it’s just a lot of play and whatnot in preschool, but at the same time, that’s setting up a lot of social/emotional skills, early learning skills, having exposure to books and words… it’s so important.”
Schweikhardt said anything in life could have the same model.
“The foundation is important and the same thing kind of applies to our town. The infrastructure is important. You get the infrastructure and that’s when people are going to be more involved and active in the community,” Schweikhardt said.
As far as goals for future, Schweikhardt said she wants to “keep Warren a great place to live, to work and for people to come and enjoy.”
“I’m not coming in with an agenda. I feel like our town council has done a fabulous job and they’ve put so much time and energy into doing as much as can be done,” Schweikhardt said. “I think just continuing that progress and working on those improvements that are already started.”
She will begin her term on Saturday, Jan. 1.
