WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington Apple recently asked all six Wilmington School Committee candidates about their qualifications and their reasons for running.
This week’s response schedule is as follows: Kathleen O’Donoghue (Monday), Rhonda Musikar-Rosner (Tuesday), Amy Largenton (Wednesday), Sabrina Hewitt (Thursday), Jennifer Bryson (Friday), Steve Bjork (Saturday), and a recap (Sunday).
Below is the response from candidate Kathleen O’Donoghue.
Kathleen O’Donoghue
QUESTION: Why are you running for School Committee? Why do you feel you’re qualified for the position?
ANSWER: I am in the unique position of being a Special Education Inclusion teacher, multi-certified, middle and high school teacher, trained principal, experienced administrator, long- standing teacher’s union representative, and a professional curriculum developer. These opportunities have provided me with a great amount of experience and insight to the many complex facets of education. This experience and knowledge would allow me to bring valuable insight regarding our own school system in Wilmington.
I am confident that as a new member of the school committee I would bring new ideas on how to accentuate the many positive things we have developed in our town to maximize their full potential. My new perspective will complement the many strong members we already have and offer insight into other manners in which a school district may address our district’s short-comings.
After teaching in the classroom for almost three decades, I can bring back and share many of the new effective and progressive ideas I have seen put into play in various school systems and assess what would be beneficial for our own students. The demographics of Wilmington are changing greatly and so are the demands and expectations that come from wanting our students to move forward into the twenty-first century. The face of education is very different from years ago and no one knows this better than someone who has been in this career path for the past thirty years. My knowledge of the educational benchmarks, initiatives, and career readiness demands required of our students will be an asset to assist Wilmington with aligning our system with the twenty-first century demands our students face in becoming happy, highly functioning students, college ready, and gainfully employed workers.
As a past Mentor Coordinator I also know the valued impact training our teachers will have upon their role in the classroom in addressing the many ways teachers can use differentiated teaching to cater to diverse learning needs. All students are different in terms of their achievement, ability, learning and cognitive styles as well as attitudes, pace of learning, personality and motivation. Providing training to our teachers in order to assist them in implementing and accessing these methodologies will be a priority to me.
I am a graduate of a Shawsheen Technical High School and reportedly the first to return as an academic instructor, taught at a vocational high school for ten years, possess my vocational director’s license, and created cross-curriculum for the Laborer’s Union. This hands on experience and knowledge can be applied to Wilmington’s move forward in assisting the students who have been somewhat looked over in our school system. I am from a family of educators and a single mother who takes education very seriously and understands firsthand the impact it can have upon your life and standard of living. The students of today are the workers and citizens of tomorrow and it is the school systems responsibility to equip and enable all of their youth with every possible advantage that comes with a great education. I believe my appreciation of the vocational mission in education will be an asset to our existing school committee and allow me to be a strong proponent for the students who would benefit from this track in education.
My last eight years as a Special Education Inclusion teacher has made me well-versed in Special Education Law overseeing the educational and emotional needs of the middle and high school students. As a parent of a child who also has special needs I hope to be an advocate and watchdog for the families in our own community and work with them and our resources to see how we may better address the needs of this growing population. Having experienced firsthand the many new educational systems that can be put into place to assess the varying needs of children who may not necessarily need an Individual Education Plan, but other alternatives to enable them to address their academic or social needs in order to succeed in the classroom, I can provide testimony and validation of why we need to reconsider a few systems adhered to here in Wilmington.
We have a lot to be proud of here in Wilmington and I want to be instrumental in helping our school system and community move forward and make the right decisions that will ultimately benefit what we all value the most, our children.
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