I am Laurie García and I am running for Easthampton School Committee.
As an educator for more than twenty-five years, I’ve taught students of all ages both Spanish and English as a Second Language, in this country and in Spain. While teaching and serving as Chair of World Languages at The MacDuffie School nine years ago, I was called by Hampshire Regional, and I decided to return to public schools to share my passion for teaching Spanish to a wider population of students.
As a resident of Easthampton since 1994, I’ve been delighted by the changes I’ve witnessed here, including the transition from a town to a city, the increases in the cultural arts, and the cultural diversity new residents bring. My husband Eugenio, also a teacher, and I reared our two children, Gabriela (25, a structural engineer in New York City) and Alex (23, a teacher in Lake Tahoe), in Easthampton.
I understand first-hand the problems districts face with balancing budgets while trying to maintain rich academic programing and reasonable class sizes. As Chair of the Easthampton Democratic Committee, I planned a forum to inform the community of the problems with funding charter schools, and I helped to lead the fight to keep the cap.
It is now time for me to put my experience and passion for public school education to work for Easthampton.