Bryanna Johnson teaches child development at the John L. Clarke Building.
Johnson is a mother and city council member seeking re-election.
She took time out of her day, on Nov. 3, to talk about city council, teaching, screen time and her hopes for Rexburg.
“I had done a few things, like I was a PTO president at my children’s school,” Johnson said. “I volunteered for a few things in the city.”
Johnson shares her journey from being a stay-at-home mom to becoming deeply invested in local governance, a transition marked by her consistent attendance at city council meetings before deciding to run for office herself.
“I kind of felt like I wanted to be involved somehow, and I really liked the things I’d done so far, so, I started going to city council meetings; I went to them for about a year and a half before I ran,” Johnson said.
Recently at city council, Johnson discussed with fellow members a five-year city plan. The Streets Department put together a plan to improve the roads as well.
“We talked about the Arts Department, (which) wants to update the Tabernacle,” Johnson said. “And so we went through that. We talked about filling another full-time position.”
Johnson said that the city council deals with many facts of life relevant to BYU-Idaho students and faculty.
“Like roads, snow removal … we talk about recreational opportunities and rec programs, races, all those things …” Johnson said.
On top of being a mother, professor and a city council member, she’s finishing a master’s degree and her husband is her ward’s bishop.
Johnson reflects on her teaching experience, sharing insights from her child development class, which covers many of the challenges facing children.
“Screen usage is huge,” Johnson said. “We talk about that almost every single day in my class, the negative impacts of screen usage. And I hope that they recognize that those impacts are for them too …”
Especially worrisome is excessive screen usage for young children, but Johnson offers some tips for handling screen time for college students in the video.
Johnson is interested in land use. There is space that serves long-term residents and space that serves temporary residents, like college students. Managing Rexburg’s growth is a major concern.
“I feel strongly about recreational opportunities that are affordable for the residents,” Johnson said. “Nothing that’s like, unattainable, but, just affordable things … businesses that come here want to know if we have recreational opportunities that are, you know, going to be pleasant for them if they lived here. So recreational opportunities are actually an incentive for businesses to come here … I feel like having access to green space and if you want to be part of a team, you know, a sports team, having those opportunities helps with mental health.”
You can watch the whole interview here.
You can listen to Bryanna Johnson talk with BYU-Idaho Radio here.
