To the Editor:

My name is Scott Quinell and I am running as a candidate for the Potsdam Central School District Board of Education in the upcoming budget vote on Tuesday, May 20. I am asking for your support next week to keep helping our district staff continue to move the school in exciting new directions.

Helping our children become prepared to navigate an ever increasingly uncertain mid 21st century will require a team of parents, family, school and community working together each day to get them ready to be engaged citizens. As a parent of two children in the district, I see how important that team effort is to every student.

In my role as an academic counselor at SUNY Canton, I work with a number of students who live at or below the poverty level and I hear their stories. It is easy to see how students can get lost in the system and not get the support they need to be successful later in life. Being strongly pro-student, it is hard to hear stories of kids who fall through the cracks through no fault of their own. That is why I want to work with the board to provide our staff with as many resources as we can to lift all of our students to be their best.

Thank you for your kind consideration and I look forward to your support on Tuesday, May 20.

Scott Quinell
Potsdam