About Sandy

Welcome to my campaign website! Let me to tell you a little bit about myself.

A native Hoosier, I was born in Terre Haute, and in fact, with the exception of eight months after my first marriage, I’ve always lived in Indiana. I’ve called Johnson County my home for thirty-plus years.

After receiving my Bachelor’s degree from Indiana State University, I married Jeff James. We were lucky enough to raise two amazing kids together—Laura and Kevin. While our children were little, I stayed at home with them while also attending night school at IUPUI to work toward my Master’s degree in Education. Once the kids started school, I finished my degree and began my career as an educator.

After teaching a semester at Franklin Central High School, I settled in as a social studies instructor at Greenwood Community High School, where I’ve been for almost thirty years. In that time, I’ve taught United States history, sociology, current events, and English. I’m proud to say that I brought psychology classes back to GHS after the subject had been dropped from the offered courses. I also take pride in the fact that I am an adjunct professor of psychology through my work with Indiana University’s Advance College Project, which allows me to offer college credit to my high school students. I’ve been with IU’s ACP for over twenty years, and have also taught as an adjunct professor for Ivy Tech Community College.

Jeff and I were married almost thirty-four years. We had a wonderful life together raising our children in Johnson County. We were blessed with our first grandchild, John, in 2014. Sadly, our lives took a tragic turn. Jeff was diagnosed with colon cancer. To our great sorrow, we lost him in 2016, just a short time before the birth of our second grandchild, Rosaline.

I threw myself in my career as an educator, and I enjoyed spending time with the grandchildren. Although I was happy, I felt lonely. So I decided it might be nice to meet someone who would enjoy movies and traveling as much as I do. I was blessed to meet Brian Dieckmann. We “clicked” right away, both feeling as though we’d known each other all our lives. We tied the knot at Our Lady of Greenwood in 2019. 

I could retire, but I still love teaching too much to leave. GHS is my home away from home, and as long as I feel I am doing a good job in educating my students, I will continue to teach. I also fill my time with writing.

To fulfill one item on my proverbial bucket list, I wrote a book in 2006. Then I wrote another, and found myself hooked. But being the Type A personality that I am, I was unsatisfied simply writing with no true goal. So I got myself an agent, and I began publishing my books. To date, I have had some success with over twenty-five published books, and I love talking about writing and sharing my love of writing with aspiring authors.

All my years of working with people led me to see that our great state wasn’t advancing the way it should, that we were often missing out on positive changes happening in our country. In particular, I’ve witnessed firsthand how legislators with good intentions can cause harm to Hoosier students and teachers. Now, I believe it’s time for me to try to do something about those kinds of harmful laws. It’s time for me to try to bring about some of positive changes here in Indiana. And it’s time for people who are ready for change to stand up and be heard.

I intend to do my very best to represent Hoosiers like me who believe it’s time for change.