Naugatuck Candidate Profile: Michael Cook For School Board

NAUGATUCK, CT — Naugatuck's election season is heating and there are plenty of contested races with candidates eager to get their name on the ballot for the city's municipal election. One of those contested races is the race for the Board of Education.

Naugatuck Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Michael Cook, 44, is running for reelection to the Board of Education and is running as a Democrat.

Are you running for office in Naugatuck? Contact Brian McCready at brian.mccready@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Naugatuck Patch.

Family: *

Wife Margaret, Daughters Savanna and Riley, Sons Gabriel and Ian

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? *

no

Education: *

Sophomore at Southern New Hampshire University

Occupation: *

Inventory Specialist 25 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: *

None

Campaign Website: *

https://www.facebook.com/Elect...

The single most pressing issue facing our town/district is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it. *

I personally believe that libraries are an important resource to all children. Libraries in some of our schools are non-existent. For example, Andrew Ave does not have a library. They have the books on carts out in the hallway. Books have gone missing or been destroyed. We also have a great library here in town with a children’s department that has great programs and is underutilized. We need to work together with the schools and the town to improve the libraries in the schools and assist getting the town library information out to the families. An idea is to work with teachers, administrators, and the town library to require the use of any library to get information instead of out of computers

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post? *

One thing I have noticed, is the lack of parents who have children in the Naugatuck school system that are on the board. I believe as a parent of a current Naugatuck Elementary school student, I have a vested interest in what is currently going on in our schools. Having a child in the school system gives me the unique point of view where I can see what is going on in the schools on a daily basis. I am able to see things and I am aware of things that someone who is not personally involved with the school, might not see and might not be aware need to be worked on.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

I am also a big proponent on getting the help that the non English speaking students need. We have aides and helpers in place, but there is not enough of them. With these students not getting the complete help they need, it takes away from the teachers ability to teach to everyone. This is not fault of the teachers or the students. We need to come up with a way to help these students.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

It is impossible to help every child, it is impossible to make everyone happy, however if one child has been helped or one child is happier than they were before then you have done your job.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I believe that we need to help ALL students, regardless of age, race, sex, or religion. There should be nothing that we can't do to help the students of Naugatuck to excel and be the best they can be.