Wednesday to fill a nine-month vacancy on the school panel.Robert Evans, an Education Resource Consultant at the American Institute for History Education in Swedesboro, was the unanimous choice of the Vineland Board of Education Wednesday to fill a nine-month vacancy on the school panel.
The opening was created by the resignation of now-city councilwoman Mayra Arroyo. The decision was reached following presentations by 10 candidates for the position and an hour of closed-session deliberations by the school panel.
“I’m very excited,” said Evans following the meeting. “I was highly impressed with the other applicants and I’m looking forward to working with the board for the next year.”
Evans will serve until the April 2009 school election.
The new school board member is a 1991 graduate of Vineland High School who earned a bachelor’s degree in history/secondary education at Rowan University. He was a history teacher at Delsea Regional High School for two years and also worked in marketing/sales prior to accepting his current position.
“As a former teacher, I believe I understand the positions of both educators and students,” he said. “I know serving on this board will be a learning experience but I think my experiences will benefit the board’s mission.”
“This was an extremely tough decision,” said Frank Giordano, Board President. “We had ten highly qualified applicants and it was not easy to choose just one.”
“I was very impressed with Robert’s business world experience and I think he will bring a lot to the board.”
Giordano said the quality of the presentations suggested that voters may have a robust slate to consider for the three open seats which will be decided in the spring election.
In addition to Evans, those seeking the position were Ricardo Camacho, Susanne Morello, Amanda Nnachetam, Robert Petronglo, Suzanne Powell, Robert Rupp, Monika Salus-Astacio, Thomas Snow, and Tracey Wells.