LETTER: Peter Maresco Announces His Candidacy

(Editor's note: The following is a candidacy announcement submitted to Amherst Patch. If you'd like to reach out to us and announce your candidacy, submit a letter and photo to Local Editor Robert Michaelson atrobert.michaelson@patch.com)

My name is Pete Maresco and I am running for the available seat on the Souhegan Cooperative School Board.  I am a system engineer at BAE Systems where I have worked for the past 32 years.  I have lived in Amherst for 12 having transferred to Nashua from our company’s division in Yonkers, NY.  

For the past three years I have had the privilege of serving on the Amherst School Board.  As my term draws to a close and I think about all of the great things that are going on at both Clark/Wilkins and the Amherst Middle School, I strongly feel as though I want to continue to serve our town as a school board member.   Since both of my children are now attending Souhegan, I feel that I am more aware of what is going on there and could make more of a contribution as a member of the Souhegan Board.  

This year I was given the opportunity to serve as the chair of the SAU board.  One of the highlights of my term as chair was the chance to speak at the welcome back breakfast in August.  That day I witnessed a level of energy and enthusiasm that I had not seen before.  In my talk I tried to stress to the teachers, based on my school experiences, how crucial their roles are in our children’s lives and how everything they do has an impact on their students’ development.  

That day, I talked about a picture from my high school days that someone had sent me.  It was a picture of five of us who had just received an award.  Of the five, three of us are now engineers, one is a doctor and one studied astronomy at MIT.  I attributed those achievements to the dedication and talent of our teachers.  With that history, I have tried to use my time on the Amherst board to focus on the quality of education of our children.

During my term, I have served as the Amherst School Board representative to the technology committee, expendable trust fund committee, Ways and Means committee and the Superintendent search committee.  I believe that the contribution of these committees has left our school district with an excellent leader, responsible budgets that focus on maintaining the quality of education and a technology plan that supports the ability to provide a 21st century education.  

Despite the successes of these committees, I believe that my biggest contribution to the board has been my ability to ask even the most uncomfortable questions to begin necessary discussions to protect the interests of all students.   One of the areas that I have been questioning since before my term on the board began is Math.  While not the only factor, my persistent questioning helped open the discussions that led to the formation of our Math program review committee.  This committee has developed a math curriculum that addresses the needs of all grade levels and all schools within our district and has been received with a tremendous level of enthusiasm among our teachers.

Besides math, another example where questioning helped improve the curriculum for the students was a discussion I initiated about the Core and More class in the Middle School. Working with the administration, we were able to add enrichment programs to Core and More.  Coincidentally, we were just given an update on Core and More at our last ASB meeting.  We were told about the “1980’s Museum”, real-life science projects and many other interesting topics that are now part of Core and More.

In summary, I believe my term on the Amherst Board has helped contribute to an excellent working environment in our school district.    We have developed an atmosphere where everyone is working together, contributing to open, honest discussions to make sure we are offering the best education to all of our students.  My time on the Amherst Board has been a very fulfilling experience and I am hoping to continue contributing as a member of the Souhegan Board.  I am asking for your support on March 13th as I attempt to again be given the privilege to work as a voice for our students.