By Dana Drake
This month, Jo Ann Groeger, who for the past year has been writing this column for the Lawrence Township Board of Education, has passed the torch along to me.
Let me introduce myself. I am Dana Drake, and I am wrapping up my first year as a member of the Lawrence Township Board of Education. I was elected last year to fill the unexpired term of a board member who resigned. I am a member of both the Personnel and the Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Development committees. On Nov. 4, I was re-elected to a full three-year term along with Glenn Collins and Max Ramos.
On behalf of the board, I’d like to welcome our two new board members, Glenn Collins and Max Ramos. The three of us will be sworn in the first week in January when the school board will reorganize. Glenn and Max will join me, Pepper Evans, Mike Horan, Jo Ann Groeger, Tom Patrick, Kevin Van Hise and Laura Waters.
We announced in May that Lawrence Township Public Schools was named a National District of Character by Character.org for demonstrating that character development has had a positive impact on academics, student behavior, and school climate at LTPS. On Nov. 1, LTPS representatives were honored at the 2014 National Forum on Character Education in Washington and received an award signifying the national distinction.
At the November board meeting, principals and staff from each school received a banner, noting LTPS as a National District of Character, to be displayed at their school. The board would like to thank the Lawrence Township Education Foundation for providing funding for these banners.
The temperature has dropped, and with a change of season comes a change in LHS sports offerings. Be sure to come out and show your support for our boys’ and girls’ Lawrence Cardinal winter teams: basketball, cheerleading, ice hockey, swimming, track and wrestling. The Cardinal athletic calendar is online at colonialvalleyconference.org.
Be sure to join us at the Community Conversation on Wednesday, Dec. 3, where we will begin discussing what is important to consider in formulating the district’s next five-year strategic plan. This is the opportunity to voice your concerns on both short-term and long-term priorities and issues. Don’t miss this very important meeting. The conversation will take place in the Lawrence High School Commons, 2525 Princeton Pike. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event starts at 7. Babysitting and light refreshments will be provided.
Don’t forget, winter recess begins with an early dismissal on Tuesday, Dec. 23, with students returning Monday, Jan. 5, 2015.
In future columns, I will try to keep you informed of recent happenings in the district, board news and upcoming events. Also, please come to any one of our regularly scheduled public board meetings, typically held the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the LHS library.
Dana Drake is a member of the Lawrence Township Board of Education. Let us hear from you – if there are any particular issues you would like addressed, please email askaboardmember@ltps.org.
