Maryanne Tomazic FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP— Maryanne Tomazic, who recently graduated from Columbia University, New York, is looking forward to serving her community by serving on the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education.
Tomazic, 22, won a three-year term to serve as Freehold Township’s representative on the board through a write-in campaign in the April 27 school election. Tomazic received 92 write-in votes from voters in Freehold Township and Freehold Borough, which are voting partners in FRHSD elections.
Three other individuals also received write-in votes in the election.
Tomazic joined the board on May 9.
Tom Caiazza did not seek re-election as Freehold Township’s representative to the board and no other resident of Freehold Township filed a nominating petition to run for the seat.
At the time the nominating petitions were due in order for a candidate to be placed on theApril 27 ballot, Tomazic said, she was busy at Columbia working on her master’s thesis.
After completing her work and securing her degree — a master’s in public health — Tomazic said she knew she would have the time to dedicate to being a member of the FRHSD board. At that point, she said, she decided to run a write-in campaign.
Running for a seat on the FRHSD board is something Tomazic said she has always wanted to do, but a busy college schedule prevented her from seeking a seat in the past. She said she offers a unique perspective to the board.
Tomazic is a 2006 graduate of the FRHSD’s Medical Sciences Specialized Learning Center at Freehold High School, Freehold Borough.
To help get her name out to residents of Freehold Township once she decided to make a run for the board, Tomazic said she visited people door-to-door. She said she was known to people because of her previous community service.
Tomazic said she has been a member of the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad since 2007, she served as the National Honor Society president in high school, she earned a Girl Scout GoldAward and she volunteered at CentraState Medical Center. Tomazic has also been active with the Fidelity Chinese School.
One of Tomazic’s goals in the FRHSD is to work with the staff in order to understand their needs.
She said she would like to see the district’s world language program grow to offer Chinese, Arabic and Russian to all students. Tomazic said the U.S. Department of State identifies those three languages as a critical need in today’s global market.
Tomazic would also like to hear from her constituents.
“It’s important for people to know I’m really an open person,” she said, adding that everyone — from taxpayers to students — should feel comfortable approaching her to talk about issues concerning the district.
Tomazic said she welcomes involvement from members of the public at board meetings. While noting that some people may have a schedule that conflicts with the times when meetings are held, she said public participation “helps board members better serve the community.”
The FRHSD board oversees the operation of six high schools that enroll a total of about 11,800 students.