EAST BRUNSWICK–Nine candidates are running for the four available seats on the East Brunswick Board of Education.
Newcomers Neven Abdo, Wesam Berjaoui, John Gonzalez, Dharmeshkumar Patel and Jeffrey Winston will face incumbents Vicki Becker, Mark Czismar, Barbara Reiss and Meredith Shaw for the four open seats, with three seats each having a three-year term and one seat having a one-year term.
Neven Abdo, 21, said her family moved to East Brunswick nine years ago, after hearing about its excellent school system.
“I am a first-generation college student attending Rutgers University, full-time, as a member of the honors program. I am majoring in cell biology and neuroscience and double minoring in public health and cognitive science,” Abdo said. “I have been working at a gastroenterology outpatient office in East Brunswick for about three years now.”
Abdo said during her time in the East Brunswick School District, she became involved in various clubs and participated in track, field hockey and softball. She graduated from East Brunswick High School in 2015.
“As a young female who immigrated to the United States in 2005 with my family searching for better educational opportunities, I understand the value of education. Marian Wright Edelman, American advocate for the rights of children, once said, ‘Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it,'” Abdo said. “I strongly believe that the key to success, progress, and a better society is education. Our journey for a better tomorrow starts with a distinguished education system today.”
Abdo said her volunteer and work experiences at various institutions in the township have put her in contact with hundreds of township students and parents. These experiences have given her the privilege of speaking to them about the school district and hearing about their needs.
“As a community, we have long invested in the quality of our public schools. As a by-product of the East Brunswick school system, I look forward to using my skills, education and passion to give back to my community and the East Brunswick School District,” Abdo said. “I wish to be given the opportunity and honor to discuss with and contribute to our school administration to deliver the best for our students, teachers, staff and community members.”
While at St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Abdo said she was a volunteer coordinator, served on the Yearbook Committee to make the first annual high school yearbook, coached Philly and COOL competitions grades 1-12 and served in youth classes on Fridays and Saturdays. She said she also served as a secretary, vice president and is currently the president of Rutgers Unversity’s Health Professions United.
“If elected, I would like to contribute to our school administration to deliver the best for our students, teachers, staff and community members by discussing with the school board issues that include: the Pathway Programs, school security, the Pilot Programs, PARCC examination, graduation requirements, partnerships and innovation, technology, taxes and school funds, and personalized learning,” Abdo said.
Currently serving as the board’s vice president, Vicki Becker, age not provided, works as the director of operations for a staffing/consulting company.
A 32-year resident, Becker said, “As an 18-year member of the board, my educational experience has been gained on the job so to speak. Prior to joining the board, I was a PTA [Parent Teacher Association] president and involved in district committees.”
Becker said she has served on every board committee and has been chair of most of them during her 18 years on the board. Currently, she is chair of the board’s Finance, Curriculum and East Brunswick Principals/Supervisors Association (EBPSA) Negotiations committees, and also serves on the board’s Technology, Human Resources and Strategic Planning committees.
“My work isn’t done. Every day is a learning experience for me as a board member. I am passionate about the students and staff of this district and am proud to be a part of one of the best school districts in the country,” Becker said. “I continue to help move the process forward and feel that my contributions help East Brunswick continue to strive for excellence and to never rest on our laurels. Achieving excellence is one thing, maintaining it and consistently raising the bar requires constant work and diligence. … There is no ‘I’ or ‘me’ or ‘you’ in a board of education. There is only ‘we’ and as nine individuals, we must work together.”
During her time on the board, Becker said she has been a part of achieving various accomplishments for the district including: full-day kindergarten; renovations/new construction of five schools and countless improvements to the other six schools; re-designing the programs for community programs during her first year on the board; and developing a partnership with Middlesex County College in order to bring new opportunities for our high school students.
Becker said that there is an over-reliance of funding public education through property taxes in the state and the board must always keep being fiscally responsible as its goal.
“We are preparing our students for a 21st-century education and to live in a global economy and community. We are preparing them for jobs that don’t even exist yet. We need to emphasize critical thinking and to use technology as a tool but to never forget that the mind behind the technology is what makes it successful,” Becker said. “We are faced with a situation where our students are burdened with too many standardized tests but we can’t teach to the test. We instill the skills and ability to problem solve and to tap into their curiosity and ability to facilitate tasks.”
Wesam Berjaoui, 36, said he has lived in the township for six years and is currently director of sales at UIF Corporation.
“I’ve always had the desire to give back to my community. At this stage of my life, I am fortunate to have the time to pursue opportunities where I can fulfill my desire to serve,” Berjaoui said. “With my experience and passion for change, I am confident that I can bring about meaningful ideas to the Board of Education. These ideas would help improve our children’s learning and prepare them for adulthood.”
With a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Pace University, Berjaoui said he currently serves as a volunteer at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility.
If elected to the board, Berjaoui said he wants “to transform the lives of East Brunswick students by the use of innovative learning techniques and empower them with the skills needed to succeed.”
Berjaoui said his goals would be to complement the use of the latest technologies with project-based learning techniques; provide a safe and friendly learning environment for students and staff; increase programs for students with special needs; implement key processes to ensure best use of taxpayer money; and have a greater emphasis on student learning, not just testing.
John Gonzalez, 39, said he and his family moved to the township in 2011. He is the supervisor of instruction at Alpha School and Gateway School, which are two state-approved private schools for students with disabilities.
“I believe that my experience in education would serve our schools well. Additionally, East Brunswick is now the home for my family and the district where my children attend. Therefore, I just seek to help in any capacity I could,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said he currently serves as a coach for St. Bart’s Buffalos Football and Cheer and the East Brunswick Baseball League.
“My efforts would lean toward assisting our population of economically disadvantaged children and students with disabilities,” Gonzalez said. “These are two demographics that hit close to home as a child growing up on public assistance and now as a father of a child with a disability.”
Dharmeshkumar Patel, 48, said that he, his wife and two sons have been living in the township for eight years. He said he is a senior associate in global procurement at Sun Pharma.
“My involvement in our school system started with a desire to help my children and ensure they get the best education possible,” Patel said. “Now that passion has transformed into making sure the East Brunswick Public Schools are the best they can be for our students and teachers.”
Patel said he decided to run for the board to improve the quality of our school system in a more effective way.
Having earned a master’s degree in chemistry, Patel said currently he volunteers at his temple, is an active Parent Teacher Association (PTA) member, a former Rotaract Club president and a former general secretary at his college union in India.
“If elected, I will also work tirelessly to keep taxes low and cut wasteful spending in the district,” Patel said. “East Brunswick residents are taxed enough already and I am running to be their champion and ensure that living in East Brunswick doesn’t become even more prohibitive than it is already.”
Patel said if he is elected to the board he also wants to “improve district-wide standards so our students become more competitive statewide and East Brunswick becomes an education destination, and ensure secure facilities so parents will not have to worry about the safety of their children at school.”
Barbara Reiss, 48, has lived in towns for 16 years with her husband and their two children, who attend East Brunswick public schools.
“I am honored by the prospect of continuing to serve as a member of the school board. I am a civic-minded individual with a background in education, print and TV journalism. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brooklyn College where I graduated with honors from the scholars program,” Reiss said. I also have a master’s degree in Education from New York University. I have worked as a public and religious school teacher as well as a newspaper reporter.”
Reiss said when she and her family first moved to the township, she co-founded and ran the East Brunswick Area chapter of the Moms Offering Moms Support (MOMS) Club, which has been active for 12 years.
“Once my kids entered Robert Frost Elementary School, I became an active member of the PTA. I volunteered for various fundraising, multicultural and educational committees, serving as president until my appointment to the school board,” Reiss said. “I have also proudly served as a member of the East Brunswick Human Relations Council, the Community Programs Advisory Committee and as a volunteer producer and reporter for EBTV. I also co-lead my daughter’s Girl Scout Troop.”
She said she is a member of the board’s Buildings and Grounds, Technology and Finance committees and is currently serving as the chair of the Policy Committee.
While serving as chair of the Technology Committee, Reiss said, “I worked with my fellow board members and the administration to expand coding to our elementary classrooms and after-school programs. I am proud to say we now have age-appropriate coding activities and projects offered to our students as early as pre-kindergarten. Our talented teachers make analytical thinking and problem solving come to life in a fun and engaging way for every student using cost-effective and kid-friendly approaches.”
Reiss said in the next five years the district will face continuing to provide a top-notch education to its children in a budget-friendly way.
“While serving on the Community Programs Advisory Committee, our committee forged a partnership with the high school honor society students to help middle school students with their studies. This is a wonderful way the district is utilizing the talents of our high school students to benefit the younger students as well as provide needed community service hours for the older ones,” Reiss said. “If re-elected, I will also support the expansion of additional partnerships between our students and our award-winning library, senior center and other township organizations.
She also said she will continue to support the district’s efforts at fostering a 21st-century learning environment, including reviewing later school start times, exploring opportunities to increase recycling at the schools and further improving the transition period for students moving up from the elementary schools to middle school and beyond.
“My father emigrated from Argentina in the 1950s and learned to speak English at night school. He was a truck driver who also worked in an electrical warehouse for many years. My mom was a public school Spanish teacher for 27 years,” Reiss said. “Both my parents always believed that education would be their kids’ ticket to a better life. I want to be part of the East Brunswick educational system that provides all our children access to the tools they need to live a successful and rewarding professional and personal lives.”
A 43-year resident, Meredith Shaw, age not provided, is a retired former teacher, department head, gymnastics coach and program director at a local gymnastics academy. Currently, she is an officiate for high school sports and work for her family business, Accountable Business Solutions.
“Both of these experiences opened my eyes to issues in public education; however, the greatest motivation to get involved in our schools here in East Brunswick were my three children, who were all educated in our schools K-12,” Shaw said. “My youngest child, as a special needs student, actually was educated until age 21.”
Shaw has been on the board since 2005.
“I’ve decided to run again because after these many years of involvement there is still much work to be done. One can only reflect on accomplishments very briefly because the issues morph and change quickly requiring constant thought and attention,” Shaw said. “Some issues, such as school funding, are long-standing and difficult, but nonetheless, require renewed attention, having taught in the public school system for seven years.”
Shaw also served as a high school department chairperson for three years. In the 1990s, she served for five years on the board’s Special Education and Student Services Committee as a parent/community member.
For the past 13 years, Shaw has served on a variety of board committees and have chaired several including Student Services, Policy, Building and Grounds, Finance, Curriculum, Transportation, Technology and Strategic Planning.
Shaw said she has also been a longtime member of the board’s negotiations team and has served as the board’s liaison to the Garden State Coalition of Schools since 2005.
“A [board] member acts as one among nine. Accomplishments are rarely the result of one individual member, but rather the result of give and take among a group that seeks consensus. Our role is one of oversight, but also taking every opportunity to provide all of our kids with educational experiences that instruct and nourish,” Shaw said.
If re-elected to the board, Shaw said she would like to tackle in the coming years include maintaining safety and constantly improving building security, expanding social, emotional learning and programs like Sources of Strength.
Along with providing opportunities for preschool learning and a full day kindergarten, Shaw said, “We’ve implemented new evaluation systems for our teachers and administration that allows them to grow in their professionalism. … We are proud of our community’s diversity and understand that it makes learning a richer experience. Inclusive programming takes the needs of every child into consideration. I want all of our children to feel valued and well served by our schools and I want every citizen of our town to believe that our schools are a good value and an investment in our collective future.”
Jeffrey Winston, 56, said has been a lifelong resident and is currently a financial advisor with a large financial services corporation.
Born and raised in the township, Mark Csizmar, 54, said his first educational experience came from the township school system where he was educated from kindergarten through high school.
“I can attest to the quality of my education here by an example from my life. I returned to college at the age of 40 and finished my bachelor’s degree and my master’s degree, both with a 4.0 GPA,” he said. “[If it had] not been for my excellent education here in East Brunswick, I could not have attained my goals at college.”
During his time as a 26-year veteran of the East Brunswick Police Department, Csizmar said he was fortunate to work in the district, teaching the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in the schools for seven years.
“After retiring from the police force five years ago, I again partnered with the school system as the lead safety and security officer at Hammarskjold Middle School. I bring an expertise in security to the district to help our children learn in a safe environment,” he said. “A day doesn’t go by without [me] thinking of ways to better improve the safety of the schools. In June of this year, I resigned from Hammarskjold to take a position as a board member.”
Since being appointed to the board, Csizmar said he is learning from the other members on how to be the best he can be, and that he brings a unique perspective to the board as an expert in safety and security.
Csizmar said his experience in the township as a student, employee and now a board member gives him a multi-faceted view of the many aspects of delivering the best to the township’s students, parents and staff.
While serving on the board, Csizmar said he also serves on the board’s Finance, Curriculum and Policy committees.
“If re-elected, I will continue to serve the needs of our students first. As a board member, I feel that I need to listen to the residents of our township and implement best practices to achieve the goals of the district while keeping an eye on cost,” Csizmar said. “I want to thank everyone in East Brunswick for their support as a former police officer and now as a board member.”
