Having served 8 years on the Caroline County School Board, I know how important it is to support our public schools. In Virginia, the School Board is elected separately and is responsible for all polices made in the school. The only official role of the Board of Supervisors is to approve seven broad categories once a year in the schools budget, however it is my belief that a supportive presence in the schools by the Supervisors is important.
School Lunch Week
One of my favorite events is School Lunch Week where I join elected officials like Congressman Rob Wittman, Senator Ryan McDougle and others to eat lunch with the children and their parents.. As you can see it’s a great time to find out what’s on the minds of our students. My wife Susan enjoys decorating the cafeteria with balloons and snapping the pictures. In 2015, I was invited to a special lunch celebration in November in honor of our veterans which I attended with Col. Dave Meyer. Read more.
Farm To Table Week
As a member of the Caroline Board of Supervisors, I look forward to the opportunity to volunteer for educational programs in our schools. I have been a beekeeper for nearly 40 years and believe it’s important to carry the knowledge forward as many people do not realize how beneficial honey bees are to our Eco-system. During Farm to Table Week, I usually see over 200 enthusiastic students, K-5 who love learning about how honey is made and how bees pollinate our food. Children as young as five years old will be waving their hands to answer math questions about how many trips a worker bee makes to a flower to create a pound of honey. Many thanks to my wife Susan who creates the educational handouts for each grade, and acts as my assistant in passing out items like comb, the different types of honey and who helps in trying on the bee hat, the favorite activity of all. Read more.
Judging the BGE Science Fair
The Bowling Green Elementary School Science Fair is a showcase of the effort and creativity of the students. Coming from an Engineering and Science background, I am always impressed with the discussion which ensues about each project, and how much the children have learned in the process. A numerical scoring system is used by three judges to evaluate the experiment and the data, and grades are judged individually. The students choose the subject, and the creative talents used in many of the ideas and the accompanying experiments are impressive. Read more.
Support of Family Fair and The Parent Resource Center
Family Fair, which will be in its 15th year in 2020 is an outreach event of Caroline County Public School’s Parent Teacher Resource Center, a program which is designed as a bridge to connect parents with teachers in a strong partnership. The resource center promotes increased family involvement by parents in the education and the life of the child at school, concentrating on nurturing and discovering new enjoyable ways to learn together. Held in the Spring, Family Fair is a day long event serving as premier resource for these missions, offering information on support services and programs which include parenting info, nutrition and healthy families info, skills for work readiness, mental health support, and much more. Educational Workshops are help throughout the day and Breakfast and Lunch are provided. For the last five years, it has been my honor to both attend and photograph this event. Read more.
Caroline High School’s JROTC
Caroline High School’s Army JROTC held its 26th Annual Awards Banquet in May of 2019. Known as the “Cavalier Battalion” they are a “2019 Honor Battalion with Distinction,” but in addition this program over the years has become known statewide as one of the most decorated in the Commonwealth. Caroline County Public School’s JROTC is a special favorite of mine as it was conceived and implemented during my tenure on the School Board from 1993-1999. Our board worked hard to make sure the JROTC got the right start and support. The Cavalier Battalion’s mission is to Motivate Young People to be Better Citizens.” I was very proud to be invited to watch the ceremony which celebrated some of Caroline’s finest young men and women and their families. Part of the program included not only the many individual awards, but announcements from the seniors on their future plans. The plans these students have made and the dreams they aspire to are nothing short of amazing. There is no doubt in my mind, we will see great things. The evening ended with an emotional Change of Command, passing the leadership torch from CDT LTC Chris “Melman” Farmer to rising senior Cadet CSM, Jayce Payne. Chris will soon be flying drones for the United States Army. This year has been of keen interest to me because I know many of these students and their parents personally. My sincere congratulations to these young people and a huge pat on the back to their parents who have nurtured these future leaders and stayed involved. Read more.