I wish them the best of luck in their endeavors as school board members.

By Gerald Totten, a Current Board of Education Member

As a sitting member of the Chatham County Board of Education I’ve been asked by many people who I endorsed and felt would be the most significant newly elected members of the Chatham County Board of Education for the next four years.  The question should more properly have been worded “why” about my choices.

I initially did not feel a sitting member should endorse any candidate but since three other sitting members have come out in support of candidates, I am joining the chorus herein.  Holly Duncan and Norman Clark have endorsed Mia Munn for District 1. I also endorse her without reservation.  Gene Galin is the better candidate for District two in my opinion and I throw my unqualified endorsement behind his candidacy.

Mia has a grasp of education matters with nationwide recognition for that knowledge.  She has had her children in Pittsboro Elementary, Horton Middle School and Northwood High School and has observed first hand the actions of Chatham County Schools.  As a responsible parent seeking the best education for her children, she later enrolled two of them in another public school, Woods Charter School. She has an in depth knowledge of how business should operate and, make no mistake, Chatham County Schools is a business with operating matters arising daily.  She is a former high school teacher in Chapel Hill and Wake County.  She left those positions only to raise her young children at the time and to help her husband in his small business contracting firm. She gave of her time to help manage phases of construction on two large projects, one of which was a school and the other a church.  She has earned the prestigious title of Certified Project Manager, an added tool she can bring to the Board since we will be building schools again once the credit crunch eases.

Gene Galin is an outstanding example of selfless contributions to Chatham County!  During his life here, he has been a contributing member to the Chatham County Water Board and to the Land Use Committee where he has quoted its education component elsewhere.  Perhaps more importantly is the fact he brought the county closer together with his decade long design and maintenance of the Chatham Journal Newspaper, The Chatham County Bulletin Board which he maintains without favor to any comment unless it is abusive or vile and his chatlist which lets anyone vent about important things to whatever concerns the poster.  He allows anyone to advertise things for sale and to post items of interest to others whether it be a complaint about governance or good news about happenings in the state.  Many citizens have enjoyed his photographs of sports and other school events for years.  As an information technology expert, Gene has shared that talent with all Chatham County citizens and will bring that to the table as a member of the Board of Education.  His talents do not stop there, however.  He is a Graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at Chapel Hill where he earned a Master’s degree in finance, a component which is needed on the Board too.

I have known Gene for some 20 years and find him to be a man of integrity with a deep concern for his fellow citizens.  His three children have all gone to public schools in Chatham and two now are in Perry Harrison School.  One is a sophomore at Woods Charter public school.  Gene has received a number of accolades for his service to Chatham County citizens.  One of which was the Independent Weekly Newspaper’s Citizen of the Year recognition and another, the local United Way’s Volunteer Award, both of which involve stiff competition.

Neither Mia nor Gene is beholden to any group except the children of Chatham County.  Neither is myopically rooted in one area of the county but both have the interests of all citizens, old and young alike, at heart.

If anyone who reads this posting has any questions about Mia or Gene and their core beliefs for our county, please let me know either by posting here or my email at gertot@earthlink.net.  I may also be reached at (919) 742-2496.

Gerald Totten

Member, Chatham County Board of Education

My favorite time so far happened today when I went out with my oldest son to Chatham Downs after 5 p.m. and had him help me meet and great people coming in to vote. He did not shy away from talking to people about his dad.

We were out there until 6:30 and he had a chance to see our political process in operation up close.

His mom and I are so proud of him.

Here’s a picture of my son with Mia’s son supporting their favorite school board candidates: 

Chatham County is moving into the future. Additions to the school board in the past year have indicated a new direction for education in Chatham County. There is still a great deal of work to be done in regard to efficient oversight of the schools that serve our children. The Chatham county board of education has made some progress in improving the outdated and resource poor plight of the schools in it’s system but there is more to be done.

I feel that communication is the key. The system needs to know how to better serve the diverse population of Chatham county. It takes good communication between families of students, teachers and administration to make positive change. Gene Galin has all the qualities that the Chatham County Board of Education needs to be a successful steward and guide for the education of our children. His objective view point and ability to listen to both sides of an issue are crucial to the success of our school system. Too often the members of past boards have been hampered by political or idealogical agendas that don’t address the serious problems with education in Chatham County. Too often the needs of individuals have been ignored by the status quo driven leaders of our local educational system. That type of governance can never work with the diverse needs of Chatham county.  No longer can the county expect to  serve only part of the population, ignoring the pleas of those “from outside”.

I know the natives (long term, born here residents) have their own ideas of what is good for the children in Chatham  County. In many ways I agree with those people, but in some areas I feel there is conflict. We need
more members of the board that can work with the severe discrepancies in services that end up leaving many families dissatisfied with current school conditions. Chatham County needs more people like Gene Galin.

I believe that Gene can make all the members of the board sit down and communicate efficiently the real needs of Chatham County Schools. His communication abilities alone are sufficient to help the status quo members of the board realize that the time has come for positive change, not the path of “the ways things have always been”.

I urge you to vote for Gene in the upcoming election. He can make a difference in tending our own garden.

I met Gene Galin at a small, private party on Sunday. We had exchanged a few emails, but we had never met in person. After talking with him for 15 - 20 minutes, I am more than ever convinced that he is the best candidate for the Chatham Co. Board of Education.

Several people, most recently Dan Cahoon, have told us about his many qualities and qualifications which make him most suitable for the job. After talking with him and noting his congenial personality, and that he is a quiet, unassuming, non-self-promoting person, who did not show any signs of being driven by an ideology (unlike at least one of his opponents), but only by a strong desire to improve our county’s schools, I think there is no doubt that he would be an outstanding member of the BoE.

Let’s elect him!

Moncure, NC - Hi, all. I thought I’d put in my thoughts on the county races. I was a member of the Chatham Coalition back in 2004-6 and I felt good about all the candidates I worked to elect which the Coalition supported in those elections.

I will be voting Democratic across the board in the partisan races. I believe both Mike Cross and Sally Kost to be competent, concerned for the county, and able to do the job of a county commissioner wisely and well.

In the school board non-partisan race, it seems to me that we have four very qualified and dedicated people, but I disagree with the Coalition’s endorsements. I believe Gene Galin will be an excellent member of BoE. He knows Chatham well and obviously cares about improving both our general quality of life as well as our schools and our children’s education or he wouldn’t have dedicated 10 years of free time to the chatlist, the Bulletin Board, and his newspaper, The Chatham Journal.

He also goes regularly to Chatham events taking photos and publishing them both in the paper and on line. He seems open to everyone, welcoming of the diversity that makes us up here. I’ve noticed a persistent thread in his handling of the chatlist, that of focus on our schools. I think he’d be a fine addition to the three remaining members of the school board, Kathie Russell, Gerald Totten, and Deb McManus, all of whom I supported in 2006. I’m sorry to see Holly and Norman leave, but they’ve done excellent jobs, too. I would care about our schools in any case, but I also have grandchildren in Perry Harrison, and I’ve taught creative writing in Moncure, Silk Hope, and Virginia Cross, and I was impressed with morale and teaching quality in all those schools. We did not have this same standard, as I remember, when I first moved to Moncure 10 years ago.

I’m also supporting Mia Munn. I’ve never met her, but I like her passion about education that comes through in a post she wrote on the bulletin board. She sought excellent education for her children, and wants to do that for all our children. I don’t hold it against her that she put a child in Woods Charter because Northwood didn’t respond well to her child’s needs. I remember that Holly Duncan was discouraged by her teaching experiences in a Chatham School and went to work in Orange County. But she then ran for school board to correct what she’d seen was wrong, and it did get better. With Mia on the board, I expect the academic standards to rise in our schools. She strikes me as being satisfied with nothing less.

As to the Coalition, I feel sad that they seem to have lost perspective. I see no conflict of interest between being on the school board and running a chatlist or a newspaper. Conflict of interest means that you might make money or benefit from your political position for your other business. Hardly. But I urge everyone to learn all they can and to vote. We’re lucky, so lucky, to have good BoC and BoE boards, and good and good new candidates running. Judy Hogan

2008 Respondents
# District: Chatham County Schools (94 % responded)
# North Carolina (87 % responded)

Good things are happening in Chatham County schools.

The great news is that 92% of teachers feel that the faculty is committed to help every student learn and 88% believe that teachers are held to high professional standards for delivering instruction. 77% feel that their school is a good place to teach and learn.

Most teachers feel that they have sufficient access to appropriate materials (81%) and they work in a clean and well-maintained school (80%) that is safe (86%)

School leadership, teacher empowerment, and school facilities and resources greatly affect teachers’ willingness to keep teaching at their schools. 74% plan to continue teaching at their current school or current district over the next two years.

Challenges facing Chatham County is the minimal amount of time available for structured collaborative planning. Little (51%) if any (41%) time is spent doing this. Teachers need to be better protected from duties that interfere with their essential role of educating students and we must strive to assure that non-instructional time provided for teachers is sufficient.

Satisfaction with professional development seems somewhat lukewarm and it appears that we can work on helping to improve opportunities to learn from one another and provide sufficient time for professional development.

66% of teachers feel that they have a small or moderate rate of involvement in determining the content of in-service professional development. Three big areas that teachers say they need more training to teach their students effectively are
> English language learners
> Closing the achievement gap
> Special Education

Chatham County Schools need to do a better job providing the professional development classes teachers feel that they need.

Mentoring is an area where there is room for improvement. 43% of new teachers had never been observed teaching by their mentor and 59% had never observed their mentor teaching.

Interested in other school activities beyond sports?

You can find loads of information about what is going on at Northwood High School by taking a look at their school calendar at http://freecal.brownbearsw.com/NHS_Calendar

I love the wealth of information that is available and keep the bag bookmarked.

BTW, tonight the BIG event is the Northwood soccer game against Cardinal Gibbons. JV game starts at 5 pm. The varsity game starts at 7 pm.

On facebook, the event Home against Cardinal Gibbons 7 p.m. shows that 73 people plan to attend with 74 people possibly attending.

Just click on the button below to make your online contribution.

Thanks so much!

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.