Sun staff
The Bethel-Tate Board of Education appointed a returning board member during its meeting on Nov. 29.
Gary Shepherd, who served on the board for 13 years beginning in 1988, will fill the seat left vacant by board member Andrew Hamrick, who resigned on Nov. 10.
In his resignation letter – dated Nov. 10 – Hamrick did not list any reason for leaving the board; he wrote, “I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve on the board of this fine organization for the past 11 months, and I offer my best wishes for its continued success.”
Shepherd, who has lived in the village of Bethel since 1969, is the operations manager for production at St. Bernard Soap Co., which makes Ivory soap.
Shepherd has six children who were students in the school district, and his wife, Cindy, was co-chair of the recent levy campaign committee that helped secure voter approval for a 0.6 mill, five-year emergency school levy.
Shepherd’s long history of being involved with the school district inspired him to apply for the position.
“Most of my time on the board back then, we were very lean, we had creative scheduling, no money and running levies…so, I’m really used to that kind of school board activity,” he said. “And I have a real deep passion for education. You know, that’s like the number one job that kids have to do is get their education; that’s the way I’ve always been.”
He added, “That’s my motivation. I’m just one little guy trying to do the best to get all the kids in Bethel the best education that we can possibly bestow on them.”
Vern Bastin, board president, and Barb Leonard, vice president, spoke about their reasons for selecting Shepherd out of the pool of 13 applicants.
“We had a wide breadth of people who were interested, which was very encouraging,” Bastin explained. “Gary has been on the board before, he has the experience, he knows what the role of being a board member is and that really shined to me. His leadership skills in his normal career, he’s been very active in the community – he’s vested. He’s very levelheaded.”
In similar a vein, Leonard said that given Hamrick’s unexpected resignation, Shepherd’s previous experience as a board member made his application stand out.
“He understood the role; plus he’s always kind of a known leader in the community. He’s very involved in the community and the school,” she said.
Shepherd was appointed to the school board for a one-year term. He plans to run for election to the seat, for a two-year term, next year.