To the Editor:
I am writing in support of both Matt Bergeron and Kathy Fiero in their campaigns for seats on the Voorheesville Central School District School Board.

Matt Bergeron is a personal friend of mine. In addition, I employ his two daughters, Molly and Abigail, in my role as manager of Indian Ladder Farms; they are both outstanding workers.

Although Matt has a large number of professional qualifications for the position, I am recommending him based on my knowledge of him as a person and a friend. He cares passionately about our community, our school district, and our society as a whole.

He is extremely intelligent, humorous, perceptive and compassionate. I feel strongly that he will be a huge asset as a member of our school board.

Although Kathy Fiero also has a wide range of professional experiences that more than qualify her for a position on our school board, I know Kathy primarily as a teacher. When my son was in Voorheesville Elementary School, he struggled with math.

He was part of a group of about 10 students gathered from various second-grade classrooms to receive extra help in math from Kathy Fiero. There was a special day that provided an opportunity for parents to come in and observe the classroom.

As my son had only recently started at Voorheesville, I attended and was the only parent to do so. During the part of the day this student group went for extra help in math, I went along.

Students sat at desks arranged in a square facing in with pencils and math worksheets. Kathy explained the math problem at hand and how to solve it then walked around the outside of the square observing and helping each student.

She was very patient and supportive and went over the problem and the process many times until most of the students began to master it. I saw her coach my son until he was not only able to solve the math problem but understood the concept behind it.

I write about this now because it was a valuable experience for me. I learned that it was not simply that he was “not good at math,” but that he learned differently and it took more time. He was more than capable of understanding the problem and solving it. He just needed the right type of instruction.

I am sure this is Education 101 for teachers but it made a big impression on me and I have always remembered it. It is this type of hands-on, granular experience and understanding of education that Kathy has had in her career as a teacher that I think uniquely qualifies her for a position on our school board.

Laura Ten Eyck

New Scotland