Cathleen Marchessault. Submitted photo.
Cathleen Marchessault
My name is Cathleen Marchessault and I am running for a seat on the Fairhaven School Committee. A lifelong resident of the Southcoast, I have resided in Fairhaven for the last 18 years. Having been a teacher in the public school system for over 20 years, I strongly believe that education is our most important community investment.
I am open-minded, solution focused and willing to listen. The primary issues of my campaign are our students’ mental health and continued well-being, as well as solutions to address inconsistencies in students’ academic progress. The Fairhaven School Committee needs to support both families and teachers to quickly adapt to the ever changing landscape of education in 2021.
I believe decisions and progress regarding public education should be flexible and inclusive; families, students and other community members need to be invited to the discussions.
With my experience as both high school math teacher and Math Department Chairperson, I can offer a variety of out-of-the-box problem solving experiences to meet the needs of teachers, students, school budgets, and school and district goals.
I have been involved with Fairhaven Public Schools for just about as long as my residency; initially as a teacher at Fairhaven High School, and now as a parent to two children who are students in our school system.
I have a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.A.T. in Teaching Mathematics, both from UMass Dartmouth. Currently, I am enrolled in an Ed.D in STEM Leadership program at UMass Lowell.
During my teaching career, I have partnered with UMass Dartmouth for research projects and worked in the UMass Dartmouth Upward Bound. I have also worked with students through PRIMES, a joint venture with UMASS Dartmouth and Lockheed Martin.
As a math teacher at Wareham High School, I have collaborated with Cape Cod 5 to establish the “Credit for Life” program, focused on providing students with experiential learning in financial decision making.
My passion for improving our schools is the reason why I’m officially announcing my candidacy for School Committee. Election day is April 5. I hope that I can count on your support.
Donna McKenna. Submitted photo.
Donna McKenna
Fairhaven voters, I am excited to announce my re-election campaign for the Fairhaven Public Schools School Committee. I have served on this committee for 9 years and will be honored once again to serve and represent you all for another 3-year term.
As a life-long native resident of our beautiful town, a fellow alum, and parent of two children who are also alums of Fairhaven Public Schools, I am so proud of the progress we have made for our students.
It is because of these reasons and more I continue to serve and represent our blue and white colors proudly. I fully support our leadership team, educators, staff, and most importantly, our students through supporting initiatives focusing on social, emotional, and mental well-being.
Since my first term in 2012, I have been involved with SMEC (Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative), the Civil Rights Task Force Team, the annual Mr. Fairhaven event for seniors and the Fairhaven High School After-Prom committee. These committees and events remind me of the importance to have someone who has been raised and connected with the community all their life to serve and represent our students.
If you know me, you know I am that individual who fights hard every day to make sure we see every student reach their highest potentials, no matter what it takes.
I think all of us could never imagine in our lifetimes living through a global pandemic. While it has been challenging to navigate how to reopen our schools safely, I am very proud of our work in managing this global crisis to try to make life normal as much as possible for our students.
We continue working towards their social, emotional and mental well-beings by instituting a hybrid model of learning where our students’ alternate weeks for in person and online learning. While in person, they have the opportunity to interact with their principals, teachers, staff and peers. Ultimately, this helps create a positive social, emotional and mental environment.
Before this pandemic occurred, we created innovation classrooms at East Fairhaven School and Leroy L. Wood School to help foster creative thinking and public speaking skills as well as initiated a K-2 literacy program to help focus on improving their reading comprehension skills.
Finally, Town Meeting last year approved the process of constructing a turf field at our high school to ensure our students receive the best opportunities available to them at home and showcase their pride on what it means to be a Blue Devil.
With your vote, we can continue this progress to make sure all our students are seen, heard and valued.
On April 5th, I ask for one of your votes for the School Committee.
I can also be reached for questions/concerns at my email donna.mckenna@fairhavenps.org. Thank you!
Colin Veitch
Hello, my name is Colin Veitch, and I have been fortunate to have enjoyed your trust and confidence for many years by serving our town on the School Committee.
I have been a Fairhaven resident for 25 years with four children who just completed their educational careers in our system.
I consider all of our children a precious trust that requires an investment of time in our educational system and in the entire Town of Fairhaven. A great town makes a great educational system when we all work together.
What that means to me is to take what I have learned as a father, a business executive, and a person and apply that to providing guidance for our school district to keep it moving in a positive direction. Our ability to work together for the common good on annual budgets and capital improvement projects is key to our success, along with our continued emphasis on inclusive education across all aspects of our student population. Our mantra of ALL means ALL is our guiding principle.
Given our current situation, this is more important than ever. Using all available guidance and science, we have constructed the best possible working model to maintain the most contact with children in order to keep them engaged and learning in this time of limits and anxiety.
We are currently working on enhancing our ability to provide social emotional connections and support while strengthening the quality of education as we pull out of the depths of the pandemic. We have an amazing staff of teachers, support personnel, and administrators who are motivated, caring and in this with all their hearts.
Being on the committee over the years has shown me what excellence can do and what to look for when excellence is not being achieved. We have not been perfect, but I feel we have been excellent at identifying when perfection is not met and making the correct decisions to adjust our path.
My work life is centered around providing quality products and excellent service. I have always applied that same work ethic to my time in service to our town. Being educated on the issues, striving to add clarity and simplifying complex situations to get results for our children has been my objective at all times.
In recent years, I have taken a special interest in K-2 literacy and its role in the later success of our children. We have implemented a truly effective program that is already showing results, and I can’t wait to see what it brings for their future growth and achievement as learners and young adults in our society.
My role as a father has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and to have the chance to extend my involvement in my children’s lives in this way has been an amazing addition.
Please vote for me on April 5th. It would be an honor to continue to serve. Thank you.
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Click here to download the entire 3/18/21 issue: 03-18-21 CandidatesNight
