Shawsheen Valley Technical High School

Name

Town

Candidate Summary

Kristen Baker

Burlington

Hi, my name is Kristen Baker, I am a mother of 6 from Burlington. My son is currently a sophomore at Shawsheen in the Plumbing program as well as an athlete. I was honored to serve on school council last year and got to see some of the inner workings of policy making in the school. I am the Early Childhood Director and part of the lead administrative team at a local private school. As a former teacher and current administrator I feel I am able to appreciate all of the different opinions in the room, as well as having the knowledge and experience in what it takes to create and implement policies in a school setting. I love Shawsheen and promote it as much as I can to anyone that will listen. The genuine care the members of the school council have for the entire Shawsheen community is one that I find rare! I would love another year to work with this team and help accomplish some of the goals we created last year.

Jenna Herby

Billerica

I am a mom of a 10th grade student at Shawsheen. I currently work in the biotech industry designing and running clinical trials in oncology. I worked in clinic for over 10 years seeing/treating patients before transitioning to industry to help find new treatments. My husband Keith is a data analyst for an international bank and previously owned HerbyQ in Billerica. We have been married for almost 18 years and moved to Massachusetts in 2020 from South Carolina. We are so grateful for the opportunities that Shawsheen has for the students and would love to help in any way possible! Our experience at the school over the last year had been wonderful and it's quite apparent how much the teachers and staff care about our children. My career and personal goals have always been to help people from all different walks of life, socioeconomic backgrounds, faiths, and yes definitely animals too!

Festo Lugolobi

Billerica

My Name is Festo Lugolobi and I completed my Ph.D. requirements in Environmental Geochemistry and hydrology at Boston University in January 2010 and graduated in May 2010.

I have been an instructor of Environmental Sciences, Environmental Chemistry and the Science of Sustainability at Bentley University, Northern Essex Community College and Southern New Hampshire University for more than 13 years.

Throughout this time, I have been able to help my students develop skills to identify environmental and unsustainable issues and take it a step further to actually think about what can or has been done about those issues to help us move towards economic development that is more sustainable. We have been able to explore the science behind some of the unsustainable issues at hand and how we can actually use education and awareness, science and technology to help us avoid unsustainable behavior.

My experiences in environmental sciences have also been applied at the Intercontinental Science Foundation to train people in the developing world about the sustainable use of the natural resources for example, through rainwater harvesting and using alternative energy resources respectively. We started training rural people on how to obtain biogas from plant and animal refuse. Obtaining energy from biological waste is important in recycling waste while reducing pressure on pre-existing energy resources such as forests. This is important because we know that a lot of damage has been done to our planet when the now, developed countries were developing but we don’t want developing countries to do the same. So, we are focusing on transferring technologies that can help people live more sustainable lifestyles.

My teaching philosophy has been shaped by my experience with some of the best professors, teachers in addition to my students. I know that education can positively affect some one’s life because I have seen it work in my own life. I therefore believe that knowledge is the greatest gift I can give to someone. It is like giving out a master key that can open any door that the student would like to open. I therefore would really want to be a school council teacher representative at Shawsheen Tech. to contribute in preparing our children for the future.

Carrie Patel

Bedford

My name is Carrie Patel, and I am looking forward to being a part of the SVTHS community. Professionally, I have worked for over 20 years as a nurse, mostly in a hospital setting until I moved five years ago to school nursing. I am firm believer that education cannot be one size fits all and that we must meet our students where they are in their educational journey and encourage them to cultivate their interests and talents into real world skills. While our family is new to Shawsheen, I have been a longstanding supporter of our local public schools. I served as President, Vice President, and Treasurer of the Carlisle Public Schools PTO during the 10 years we lived there as well as served on the Carlisle Public Schools Committee and the Concord- Carlisle Regional School Committee. As an avid supporter of Career and Technical Education (CTE), I hope to see more towns in Massachusetts expand access to CTE programs so more students have a chance to explore CTE programs in high school. As a member of the SVTHS School Council, I would work to support the school in meeting the needs of our students while being mindful of the school budget. I believe all students can succeed when they are allowed to pursue their interests and are encouraged to be themselves. I am thrilled that my son will be a student at SVTHS for the next four years and am looking forward to supporting the faculty and staff at SVTHS in any way I can.

Tracy Shunamon

Tewksbury

Hello, My name is Tracy. My oldest child graduated from Shawsheen in 2023 from the electrical shop, my middle child is currently a sophomore in the medical program, and my youngest will hopefully be attending in three years. I have tried to help better the school the best I can without being on any committees in the past five years, but decided it was time to put my foot in the water. I would love to be able to represent our parent community on the school council. We need a strong voiced individual on here to voice many parents concerns. My Oldest child was in the council from sophomore year to when he graduated. I was able to sit in on some of the meetings and watch what they can get accomplished. I would love to be able to partake in decisions such as dress code, attendance policy’s, and improvements to the school budget. I hope you will consider me for the role and appreciate you taking the time to read this.