The Hammonton Gazette 10/31/18 Edition | Page 5

Candidate for school board interviewed by Gazette Page 4 • Wednesday, October 31, 2018 • The Hammonton Gazette COMMISSION, from Page 1 to the school district and commu- nity that instilled in him the values that have guided him throughout his life and career. a f t e r graduating from Ham- monton H i g h School, an- gelow at- Anthony Angelow t e n d e d thomas Jefferson University, where he earned a bachelor’s de- gree in nursing and a master’s de- gree in the university’s acute care nurse practitioner program. He then completed his post-master’s in education at Mount Carmel Col- lege of Nursing, followed by re- ceiving a Ph.D in nursing education at the University of Northern Colorado. angelow is currently an assistant professor at Drexel University, while also maintaining his position as a nurse practitioner in the trauma surgery department at Cooper Uni- versity Hospital. angelow said he decided to run to help make a “difference.” “i thought running for school board would be perfect because i love the educational aspect, and i love mentoring new people into roles. So, if i can make a difference for the next generation coming up, i think that’s an awesome opportu- nity for me,” angelow said. angelow said that keeping stu- dents safe and healthy would be his main priority as a member of the board of education. to help achieve this, angelow said it is imperative that the school district closely mon- itors signs of bullying. “[Bullying] seems to really be impacting the lives of our kids. i don’t know if it’s a different type of bullying, or if it’s just so intense that they don’t know how to deal with it, and i think it’s contributing to a lot of the struggles that our kids have going forward … We’re never going to prevent it 100 percent, but how are we going to make sure we have minimal impact on our kids?” angelow said. While many voters pay closer at- tention to the political races of town council and Congress rather than the board of education on election Day, angelow contends that it is just as important of a race due to the board’s ability to posi- tively impact students. “When you really look at it, the board of education is basically the policy-making body and the deci- sion-making body for our public school systems, and i think it’s the basis for future,” angelow said. Thomas Attanasi Hammonton Board of education Vice President thomas attanasi, 55, is the lone incum- bent board member running in this year’s election. He will be seek- ing a third three-year term. attanasi, Tom Attanasi a native of Washington twp., has spent the past 22 years in Hammonton, where he and his wife, Gabrielle, have raised five children together. for the past six years, attanasi has worked as superintendent of the Stratford twp. and Laurel Springs school districts. through- out the past 31 years of his exten- sive education career—which includes 20 years with the Ham- monton School District— attanasi has done everything from teaching and coaching, to becoming an ad- ministrator and assistant principal. regardless of his professional title, attanasi said he has always ap- proached his career with a sincere devotion to prioritizing the needs and well-being of the student body above everything else. “My interest is in children—the safety of the children—and my heart’s in the right place when it comes to the school board. i’ve been a passionate educator all my life,” attanasi said. Looking back on his past two terms on the board, attanasi high- lighted many of the district’s teach- ing hires and new programs that were implemented as some of the school district’s most notable suc- cesses. Looking ahead to the fu- ture, attanasi said, if re-elected, he would like to push for a decrease in class size at the primary grade lev- els, seek additional electives and push for more dual-credit courses to be added within the district. although improvements have been made throughout the school district during his six years on the board, attanasi acknowledged the challenging obstacle of being un- derfunded by the state in years’ past. However, the 7.2-percent in- crease in Hammonton’s state aid funding that was recently an- nounced by Governor Phil Murphy has made attanasi optimistic that the board will be able to effectively operate and achieve its goals for the district in the coming years. “Hammonton has started to see some of that funding come their way, so i’m looking forward to see even more revenue so we can do more things and the initiatives that we have put in place in our vi- sion—to see them in fruition,” at- tanasi said. September Corgliano September Corgliano, 34, is run- ning for a seat on the Hammonton board of education in the hopes of providing a voice to the students and teachers of the school district. Corgliano is a native of Mays Land- ing. She is also a gradu- ate of Buena September regional Corgliano High School and is cur- rently employed as an equal em- ployment opportunity officer with local construction company Bere- nato Contractors. in 2004, Corgliano moved to Hammonton, where she resides with her husband, robert, and their two children, Bobby and alana, who are both enrolled at the school district. Corgliano said her children becoming students in the district instilled in her the passion that eventually drove her to decide to run for a seat on the board of edu- cation. “i just feel passionate about the teachers, really, and i feel like if we have things for the teachers—good baselines and things like that— then our students will thrive,” Cor- gliano said. if elected to the board, Corgliano said she would bring an outspoken and spirited presence to its mem- bership, and would advocate for in- creasing teacher resources. “i think our teachers need more … Our teachers dip into their pock- ets a lot and we have teachers who come to Hammonton, and then they leave. We should be a district that people want to come to and stay and thrive in,” Corgliano said. Student safety is among Cor- gliano’s top priorities as a prospec- tive board member. She commended the safety improve- ments made to the school entrances throughout the district a year ago and said she hopes to help them continue. “We have these awesome, new corridors when you walk in. it’s re- ally great, just seeing that process … i just want good things for our kids, for my kids, for everybody’s kids,” Corgliano said. Otto Hernandez Otto Hernandez, Ph.D., 65, has devoted his entire career as an ed- ucator. He previously spent 10 years work- ing as vice president of academic affairs at at- lantic Cape Community College (aCCC), and has also held the Otto Hernandez professional titles of de- partment head and dean. in January, Hernandez transi- tioned back into the classroom and resumed teaching as a faculty member, which has given him enough free time to pursue a seat on the board of education. See BOE, Page 22