A Leader for ALL Students
Margaret’s Vision
Margaret believes in early learning and continuing to learn throughout our lifetimes. She believes in public education and that our schools are the heart of our thriving and close-knit community. As a prospective school board member, Margaret seeks to preserve the tradition of excellence of the Plainfield schools while addressing new challenges. She is concerned about the current status of students’ mental health and believes safety and well-being are critical for success. We must support our students and staff with care and compassion before we can bring joy to learning. Margaret believes in empowering students from all backgrounds to learn, grow and experience joy through education, community connection, internships, work experience, travel and diverse friendships. She believes every student has value, deserves to be respected, treated with human dignity and encouraged to reach their full potential regardless of race, religion, national origin, disability or sexual orientation. Margaret believes our shared community of values can come together to lift each other up, rather than exploit any perceived or real differences. She believes in working together with others in a respectful manner and keeping the best interests of students at the core of every decision. Margaret is a leader for ALL students.
Margaret’s Background
Margaret and her family have lived in Plainfield for 21 years. She grew up in neighboring Michigan and shares our Midwestern values. Margaret worked as a lawyer for 13 years in several different states, including several years each at the Indiana Attorney General’s Office and Ice Miller, LLP. After the birth of her two children, Margaret chose to stay home and volunteer in the Plainfield school system. She has devoted herself to our schools for the past 14 years and hopes to continue to serve the students of Plainfield in a new role that combines her love of children and education with her legal background and experience by seeking election as a member of the Plainfield School Board.
Dedicated to Schools
Margaret has been actively involved as a classroom volunteer and a member of the PTO since her first child started kindergarten in 2010. As a classroom volunteer she has helped small groups of students with reading, writing, math and she even taught yoga once a week for a 5th grade classroom. As a PTO board member Margaret has spent many hours behind the scenes planning class parties, field days, Walk-A-Thons, fundraising events, dances, post-prom parties, teacher appreciation events and much more. Most recently, she served for two years as the President of the PHS PTO. In 2023, Margaret completed the Allies for Education program. In 2024, She began working as a substitute teacher, serving directly in elementary classrooms across Plainfield. In May of 2024, she also had the opportunity to serve on the Teacher of the Year Committee. Margaret has experienced life as a Plainfield parent from kindergarten through senior year of high school and knows the joys and challenges of each stage.
at Plainfield United Methodist Church.
Personal Interests
In addition to being a Plainfield parent, Margaret is also a yoga teacher and enjoys reading, book club, being outdoors, traveling and spending time with her family, friends and beloved pets. She has been a member of the Plainfield United Methodist Church since 2009, where she formerly taught Sunday School and VBS.
Foreign travel is one of Margaret’s passions because she thrives on learning and growing each time she travels somewhere new. During the 2014-2015 school year, Margaret’s family had the opportunity to live in Scotland during her husband’s sabbatical from DePauw University. She loved watching her sons attend a Scottish school, make new friends and expand their horizons.
Most recently, Margaret and her husband traveled to Spain with their younger son who is participating in a study abroad Spanish language program.
Life Is A Journey That Begins With A Single Step
Margaret & her husband Erik were married in Michigan in 2003. Their children were born in Hendricks County and that’s where their family journey began. At first they started exploring the world close to home. As the boys grew older they ventured to states outside of Indiana, and eventually crossed “the big pond” to Europe. They dipped a toe into Asia in Istanbul, and a foot into Northern Africa in Morocco, and there are many more places they would like to visit someday. Traveling to new places has helped each member of the Wielenberg family discover new passions and possibilities.
Discover Your Own World of Possibilities
Margaret encourages every family to get out there and explore our world. Our schools take the students on multiple field trips, an 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C., and extracurricular groups travel to various competitions and conferences. Even though the schools can’t take every child across the world, the teachers try to bring the world into our classrooms. The school district should continue to encourage and support the teachers’ efforts to bring exciting and creative opportunities into the classroom. Margaret has seen how teachers are bringing guest speakers and experts into the classrooms, whether in person or through a platform like Zoom. One of Margaret’s dreams for Plainfield students is to have greater access to exchange programs and study abroad programs through scholarships and grants.
