Nine years ago my family moved back to Amherst, and Becky and I were thrilled to give our kids access to a high-quality education in a place that not only values learning, but also embraces the core value that we are all part of one world and one humanity.
I now wish to give back to the community that has given my family so much, hoping to serve on the Amherst School Committee.
When my kids entered Crocker Farm and Wildwood, I began volunteering, coaching youth soccer, and later serving on the principal search committee and School Governance Council. Through these experiences, I learned firsthand about the educational and life challenges of an amazingly diverse group of teachers, students and families.
Later when serving on the School Governance Council at the Middle School, a schedule change threatened to cut foreign language instruction by half, and so I rallied parents, quickly mobilized a response — and got those cuts restored.
And when problems arose with a classroom instructional model, I argued strongly in public meetings (and in this paper) for teachers’ voices to be heard and respected, resulting in a major change of that model.
Over the course of these years I’ve also advocated for my oldest child’s special education needs, working with many different teachers to find creative ways of including special needs students in school activities and classrooms as much as possible. There have been difficult moments; but the joy of seeing him sing at a public event, or be on stage with his peers at the high school play, makes all those efforts worthwhile.
Through it all, I’ve come to see that effective public service requires putting in the hard work to know things deeply, keeping an open mind to listen to others fully, and having the courage to make decisions that will benefit all in the long run.
If granted the opportunity to serve on the School Committee, I am excited to devote my time and energy to working for our community in this same way.
Peter Demling
Amherst
The writer is a candidate for Amherst School Committee.
