An Ames School Board candidate says coming from a family of teachers gives her a unique perspective on education. Gina Perez, an Iowa Department of Transportation information technology specialist, says she wants to take that perspective to local government and be a champion for minority and at-risk students. Perez and her husband have two sons in the middle school and an Ames elementary school. She joins fellow first-time school board candidates Monic Behnken and Jamet Colton, who announced their candidacies earlier this month. School board elections are September 12th.