I’m writing to support Yanping Helen Ming’s campaign for our School Board this year. I have known Helen for many years. She is known among our friends as someone who is smart, hard-working, and cares about our community. She has been very committed to volunteering for our public schools and community events in general. She is very familiar with school issues, and understands that school board needs to be more transparent. She is the person to go to when I have questions about schools and need help or information.
Our School Board needs a breath of fresh air and approach. Helen is the ideal candidate for our School Board. I support her campaign without any reservation.
— Muna Tang, West Windsor
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Board of Education members must carry out two tasks: effectively balance a budget and consistently offer leadership as to the best choices in maintaining quality teachers, curriculum, and programs for a school district.
Both Helen Ming and Veronica Mehno have the best track record in terms of both of their collective business experiences and their passionate involvement in the schools thus far, serving in leadership positions on the PTA, and offering their diligent and unwavering presence at school board meetings. Both speak up when necessary, rather than conveniently following the status quo.
Both have proven—Mehno through reinstating the Mock Trial at High School South, though her 3 children are all at Dutch Neck, and Ming through her leadership as VP of Advocacy on the Maurice Hawk PTA—that they are seeking positions on the School Board because they have students currently in the system, they are interested in a quality education for all children, and they are daily involved with all that the school board position entails, and more.
As a former High School South Language Arts teacher with a 4th grader at Village School, I have witnessed the changes that came about under recent and current leadership. Many residents have concerns about the expenditures toward an ever-increasing emphasis in technology for students, while the teacher retention rates and the arts budgets have plummeted. Current incumbents on the school board have a lot to answer to, but say very little.
As a resident and a former educator myself, I know that our tax money was not always wisely spent and that investing in technology over humans and administrative infrastructure over student infrastructure shows the “values” of those in the education “business.”
Vote Mehno and Ming to get voices on the school board that are not too willing to happily go along with the latest trends and gimmicks, while taxing teachers and students with district lead initiatives,
but rather maintain teacher excellence and the outstanding programs that those living in WW-P all came here for in the first place.
— Estella Ruggiero, West Windsor
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I am writing this letter in support of Veronica Mehno as a BOE candidate. I have known Veronica for over 5 years now. She has always demonstrated to be very engaged with school issues. She is very passionate about students having a good foundation and learning to the best of their ability.
She has the compassion and the strength of character to tackle any situation. She will be an excellent choice for the BOE at WWP as she listens to all different stakeholders very carefully and respectfully.
Mehno is all about transparency and communication, on November 7 we have the great opportunity to make a change. Vote for Veronica Mehno.
— April L. Thomas, West Windsor
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This November 7th we have the opportunity to enhance our West Windsor Plainsboro School Board with a candidate that cares about all aspects of our great school district. Veronica Mehno is not only the mother of 3 children that attend West Windsor Schools, but also a business owner, an active member of the community, a regular attendee at all School Board Meetings, and has a financial background. Veronica Mehno cares about a quality education for our children, restoring academic opportunities that have been taken away from our children in the last few years, and will work to control our skyrocketing property taxes.
We need a voice on the board that will question outrageous expenditures like the $18,000 to design a new district logo, and not simply be a rubber stamp in approving any and all expenditures the administration wants. We need someone that can stand up to the administration and question the barrage of testing our children receive that rob our children of instruction time, and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars that could better be spent on educating our children.
I encourage West Windsor residents, both those with children in our schools and those that don’t have school age children to vote for someone that not only cares about quality education for all our children, but cares equally about the fiscal responsibility of our schools that allows residents to be able to continue to live is West Windsor when their families are grown instead of being forced out due to high taxes.
Please take the opportunity on November 7th to elect Veronica Mehno to the West WIndsor-Plainsboro School Board.
— Linda Forst, West Windsor
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I’ve known Veronica Mehno for 7 years. She is an extremely hard working and well organized businesswoman. Her determination to understand new and complex issues is her greatest strength. As a WWP School Board Member, Veronica will provide a balanced point of view and make informed decisions that are fair and beneficial to the students, educators and residents of West Windsor and Plainsboro. I look forward to her election to the School Board.
— Fred Sarstedt, West Windsor
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Recently, WW-P High School South successfully began a new mock trial program, which has been absent for the past several years. For those who do not know, Mock Trial is a national competition in which students are given a mock criminal case, and then carry out the roles of the trial from witness to prosecutor at given competitions.
Mock Trial provides real-life competencies such as effective communication, innovative problem-solving, and self-directed learning. It is a fantastic program found at almost every high-achieving high school in New Jersey, including WW-P High School North. Finally, WW-P South has a team to call their own as well. This is largely due to the tireless efforts of Veronica Mehno and her husband, Chris.
They have been working with students and the administration to put together a plan of action, and have shown impressive commitment and follow through. I am further impressed by Mrs. Mehno’s ability to achieve something that a number of students, including myself, were unable to do.
Though WWP-South has not had a Mock Trial team for quite some time, that is not to say there has not been demand. As a student from 2013-2016, I worked with fellow students and educators to try and get the program approved by the administration and the Board of Education. However, the school administration wanted no part in providing this opportunity to students.
We then presented the issue to the Board of Education, where we were asked to provide and organize the logistics for such a program and to write a formal proposal to the Board. We came back two weeks later with a time and space to practice, a teacher advisor, a volunteer attorney coach, more than 60 students who were interested in participating, and approval from the State Bar association to register
late for the upcoming competition. We were then told by the Board of Education that the budget was set months ago, and it was impossible to add any room for a teacher stipend (generally less than $5,000). While this disillusionment later led to my race for a board of education seat, the mock trial club never got off the ground.
Mrs. Mehno succeeded where we were unable to, pursuing creative solutions to make sure students got the opportunities they deserved. Mock Trial is extremely valuable for students looking to go into the legal field, and now students will be able to explore that opportunity. My sister competed in Mock Trial from freshman year in high school through college, and it built the foundation for her current successful legal career.
I expect we will see success for years to come from this program, and I am excited to see how previously underserved law-oriented students will make this program their own. The need for a Mock Trial program at WW-P South has been felt for years, and Mrs. Mehno has helped make this dream a reality.
— Jordon Degroote, West Windsor
