An Iowa State professor's hat is the first in the ring for this fall's Ames School Board election. In a news release, assistant sociology professor Monic Behnken says she's running for a school board seat in September's election. Behnken says she wants to promote diversity on the school board, and increase awareness of it in the district. She says her priorities also include increasing transparency in decision-making at the district level and fostering parental input and teacher empowerment. Behnken and her husband have lived in Ames since 2009. Their two children attend Sawyer elementary school. The terms of board members Mike Espeset, Tim Rasmussen and Bill Talbot end this year. Talbot has said publicly that he isn't likely to seek relection. The school board election is September 12th.