Name: Rae Anderson Nicholson

Birthplace: Kansas City, Mo.

Family: Husband and a 6-week-old daughter

Occupation: Attorney for the state of Kansas

Dream job as child: Teacher

“I just always liked school,” Nicholson said. “I remember when I was a kid, I would play classroom in my bedroom, and I was the teacher.”

Nicholson said she didn’t decide to go into law until she took a first amendment course at Kansas University as an undergrad. She graduated from the KU Law School in 2008.

Hobbies: Nicholson said she is crafty, enjoying sewing, knitting and crocheting.

“And then any random Pintrest projects I can find, I try them out,” she said. “I’ve actually done the Basehor craft show for a few years.”

Digging deeper: Next week, Nicholson is set to become a member of the Basehor City Council, filling the seat of Brian Healy, who is moving out of the city.

Nicholson moved to Basehor five years ago with her husband. She grew up in Overland Park, and her husband grew up in Leavenworth.

She said Basehor not only had a great location in the metro — giving her short commutes as she has worked in Overland Park, Lawrence and Leavenworth since moving here — but she and her husband also were attracted by the quality of the school district.

Nicholson wanted to get involved and meet people in the community, so she attended a Basehor PRIDE meeting about a year after moving to Basehor, when the group was just starting its community garden.

“I ended up leaving that meeting having volunteered to write the grant to get the garden started,” Nicholson said. “So I pretty quickly got myself in deep.”

A few months ago, Nicholson joined the planning commission, and when the City Council position opened, the mayor approached her to fill it.

Nicholson said she’s never had political ambitions, but she agreed to join the council in order to continue to support the “community that I enjoy and love.”

She said she hopes her background in political science and law will be a benefit to the council.

“I fully expect that I'm going to learn a lot once I get in this position,” Nicholson said. “I really enjoy living in Basehor, I think it’s a great community, and like a lot of people I want to see it grow, but I want it to grow in a positive way.”