For Mark Kamberg, serving as president of the East Williston Board of Education is another way he can give back to the community.
“I grew up in that environment. My parents always gave back and it’s certainly a value I instill in my own children today,” Kamberg said.
Kamberg was elected as a school board trustee five years ago. Prior to that, he served as a volunteer on several district hiring committees, including committees to hire the superintendent, assistant superintendent for business, and the curriculum associate for social studies. He had also served as a facilitator for the community meeting to cull input for the superintendent search. He also participated on the North Side School Shared Decision Making Committee and has acted as the Parent Teacher Organization Board of Education observer.
Kamberg and his wife, Marci, have two children, Adam, 10 and Alexa, 14, who both attend East Williston district schools.
But the fact that they attend schools in the district is just part of what Kamberg said motivated him to get involved.
“I had grown up in New York City and I truly wanted to understand how Long Island school districts worked,” he recalled.
Kamberg, who has lived in Albertson for 13 years, also served on the Board of Education at Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn before being elected the East Williston school board. In addition, he served as director of operations for the Annual Woodbury Autism Disco Ball, supporting children with autism; chairman for the Annual Children’s Funfest for the Children’s Cancer Center at Winthrop-University Hospital and chairman for the Young Professionals Division of UJA, helping to raise funds for global charities.
As a school board member, Kamberg said he takes particular pride in several of initiatives he’s helped facilitate, including developing open enrollment in the accelerated science and math curricula, expanding AP offerings and implementing a new nine-period day of study. Foreign language initiatives were expanded, with a new foreign language program at the North Side School and Chinese being added as a language options at The Wheatley School this fall.
Kamberg noted that the Willets Road School was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence last year. In the high school, students continue to graduate with record numbers receiving advanced regents designation and record numbers of students are taking AP classes while they also continue to excel in athletic and musical competitions.
He also pushed for bringing a staff and student ID card program and providing safer access to district buildings, including the locking of non-main entranceway doors and after hour security guards at the high school.
Infrastructure improvements have also been undertaken, including new sidewalks, crosswalks and stop signs installed at the entrance to Willets Road and new roofs on two of the three academic buildings. A new Westinghouse energy performance contract enabled installation of new boilers at Wheatley, new light fixtures in all buildings and cost savings initiatives to the district.
During his time on the board, the district also built a new life skills – formerly Home Economics – classroom in the middle school and is about to break ground on a new middle school science lab.
For athletics program, new baseball backstops were installed at Willets Road, and new girls and boys locker rooms are being installed at Wheatley. New lockers went into Wheatley last year and the student parking lot there is newly paved at Wheatley.
“I have a sense of fulfillment when I walk into a building and know I have a part, with my fellow board members in giving students there a good education,” Kamberg said. “I’m extremely proud that we’ve put so many initiatives forward, while maintaining the lowest tax increase in history this year.”
Kamberg was also involved in negotiating pay freezes for the 2011-2012 budget for the district’s teacher and administrative units.
He said he considers himself a “people person” with skills developed in his family’s business and he saw the need five years ago to help sort out what he perceived as a “lack of cohesion” on the board.
With diminishing state and federal aid, the state tax cap, and establishing a new evaluation process for teachers and principals, he said he foresees new challenges ahead.
Kamberg owns and manages a successful food ingredient supply business, Great Neck-based S. Kamberg & Company where he holds the position of CEO. He deals with customers, suppliers, budgets, sales contract negotiations, new product innovation and ongoing customer service issues.
“We represent all kinds of ingredients,” he said.
The company, started by his father, Stephen in 1965, deals in sweeteners, cocas, grains and nuts, bought directly from growers and from procurers. S. Kamberg also conducts its own ingredients research, he said. Mark joined the company in 1990, working with his father, who is now semi-retired.
“The food business has been in our genes for many generations,” Kamberg said.
His great grandfather was a miller in Germany and his grandfather also started his own food supply business.
In his free time, Kamberg said he likes to spend time with his family and friends and also get to the golf course and the gym.
