I’m a high school English teacher with 32 years of full-time teaching experience. I’m also a homeowner in Manhasset and a parent of a sixth-grader at Munsey Park.
I’m writing to tell Manhasset residents that Evan Mandery would make a great member of the Manhasset Board of Education.
I’ve known Evan for seven years, as a neighbor and a friend. We coached our daughters’ softball teams side by side on the fields at Manhasset High School. Evan is exceptionally smart, kind, ethical, and caring.
He is an alumnus of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He’s written six books. He’s also a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Educators rarely serve as school board members. Most school board members bring their success from private industry to the school board. Although well-intentioned, they sometimes lack educational understanding.
Why do executive chefs run restaurants? Because they know the art of cooking from the ground up. Evan knows the art of teaching from teaching his students. He also cares about teaching from the perspective of a parent. His daughter is in the fifth grade at Munsey Park School and his two other children are products of the Manhasset school system.
This is especially important because Evan is invested in what happens in the schools for the right reasons – the students.
As a fellow educator, I agree with Evan’s vision. He wants to build an online learning plan that includes more teaching. The current number of hours per week of virtual learning is just not enough.
I’m excited about Evan’s candidacy because he believes that teachers want to teach more and need to teach more. People depend on schools in the best of times. Today, they’re more important than ever. What’s more important than electing a school board member who understands this?
Vincent Amelio
Manhasset
