Simone Campbell: Chester School Board Candidate

CHESTER, NJ — The Chester Board of Education has a contested election on Nov. 2, with eight candidates who filed to run for three available, three-year seats.

Simone Campbell is one of the candidates to put her hat in the ring.

The other candidates on the ballot include:

• Thomas G. Murphy
• Sarah Schultz
• John Barounis
• Dana Levens
• Sara Kalashian
• Carolina Rodriguez
• Matthew R. Downs

Of all of the candidates, Kalashian is the only incumbent among them.

Editor's Note: Are you a candidate on the ballot? Patch sent out emails to all candidates to the email addresses listed for their campaign provided to the office of the clerk. The responses received will be published between now and the General Election. Candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) may contact jennifer.miller@patch.com.

Here are Campbell's responses below:

BOE Candidate Questions for
Simone Campbell
Chester Township, NJ

Seeking a Board of Education seat for a 3 year term

I am Married to Douglas Campbell Jr. and I have 2 children Douglas III age 14, and Gisele age 11 where both attend school in the district.

I received my Bachelors of Science in Biology degree from the University of South Florida, and my Masters of Physical Therapy degree from The Hogeschool van Amsterdam (Higher School of Amsterdam) in The Netherlands.

I am a Pediatric Physical Therapist but I am currently focused on raising my children, and volunteering in the Chester community especially with the Chester-Mendham Angels.

This will be my first elected appointed office if I am voted in.

I am seeking a run for the Chester School Board because I love working with children in an academic setting, and I feel I have the experience to add to the already very knowledgeable and hard working Chester Board of Education. I have over 20 years of experience as a Physical Therapist and I spent 14 years of them working in Miami, FL at a Non Profit Center as a Pediatric Physical Therapist teaching children and the adults in their lives how to navigate in a school and in a home setting. I want to continue volunteering in the city I am raising my children in. I believe a happy community makes for a wonderful place to call home.

My stance on masks in schools is that I support mask wearing in schools.
(It is a mandate set by the Governor which I intend to follow). We here in New Jersey have been privy to watching various school districts throughout the nation that have had or not had mask mandates and those districts or schools that followed the mask guidance, had less instances of Covid-19 transmissions and their schools stayed open for in person learning. Last year, in our district, there was not ONE in school transmission recorded and we were able to have in person school learning while other districts in New Jersey had to return to virtual. No one enjoys wearing masks, but for the moment, they are a part of the mitigation strategies put into place to keep our students, teachers and administration healthy and safe.

Should schools offer a virtual option?
I whole heartedly believe in person school learning is in the best interest of the child and parent for many reasons some of which include social and emotional components. Children need to be in school to interact and learn with their peers and teachers while parents focus on working. If there is a personal situation that inhibits the well being of a child and/or their family, I believe that should be addressed between that individual family and the school.

Other issues I feel should be tackled in our school district include more “cyber safety” education and a tutoring program for students. Cyber safety and cyber education needs to be addressed much quicker as our kids are on electronic devices more than ever. Many use their phones, lap tops, iPads for their education and their homework, they also use them for entertainment, gaming and for social interaction. This medium has been thrust into our lives at an exponential rate. As a mother, and like most parents, this fast pace of technology can be scary. Children can easily find themselves down rabbit holes of inappropriate content within a few clicks, and at very early ages too. They see TikTok challenges that can be inappropriate, or destructive, they can click on YouTube videos that appear to be a Roblox or Minecraft game but really aren’t, and they can get sucked into posting pictures for likes to determine their worth. Phishing scams are at every corner trying to steal identities or information, and on line bullying is a constant threat. If we are expecting our children to be immersed into a world of working with computers and being online, then they need to equally have as much education against the dangers of it as well.

In addition, I believe a district wide tutoring program should be created to add another layer of learning for students. I feel Chester’s students would benefit from a tutoring program that addresses reading and writing, math and science skills. This could be an after school program designed to help children review and study for assessments, allow for homework help, or work collaboratively with their peers on projects. After the last year and a half of missed learning opportunities, I believe this would be a valuable tool. This program could be made up of high school and college students that are volunteers.

What sets me apart from the other challenging candidates is I am only one of two candidates with a background in Health with an emphasis on pediatrics. I dedicated most of my professional career as a physical therapist into helping children from various backgrounds navigate (with their disability) in the world around them. Funding or lack of it was frequent. Limited monies for therapies, limited access to equipment such as wheelchairs, standers or assistive devices was common place. Some kids had insurance, some kids didn’t, some insurances covered only $50 worth of anything, and there was just never enough of anything. But I was creative, and I was dedicated. I begged, borrowed, and created as much as I could. I built rapports with vendors who would lend me equipment long enough for me to get thousands of dollars of items approved. I traded my time, I volunteered, and I wrote a lot of letters to justify anything a child required. My dedication in helping children thrive and excel has always been my ultimate goal.

I feel my diverse background and professional career would be a great benefit for the Chester School Board. I was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to Canada as a young child, and then to the USA my senior year of high school and continued my University education playing collegiate basketball. Eventually, I studied Physical Therapy in The Netherlands and soon after began working for various pediatric clinics. Working for a non profit most of my career gave my a lot of insight and experience into managing budgets, state funding resources, grant writing, charitable donation allocation and justifying equipment and school items for children 0 thru 17 years of age. I’d like to bring this knowledge to the Chester Board of Education and help continue giving the Children of Chester all the tools they need to succeed and excel in their schools and in their community.

If I am elected to the Chester School Board, I will work very hard to collaborate with parents, teachers, administrators and board members in making the best decisions for our children. I will help make sure teachers have the resources they require to do the best job they can to teach our children, I will work hard to ensure that coming to school in our district is a safe place for every child no matter the circumstance, I will be an advocate for increased cyber education, and I will help run the budget in a measured way coupled with giving Chester’s children innovative technology and appropriate curriculum that will keep them competitive.

Seeing my children excel is what drives me as a mom. Seeing their peers excel reiterates that we made the right choice in choosing Chester to raise our family. I want what is best for them. I want Chester’s children to have a meaningful and successful school experience so they will flourish and one day as adults, continue the legacy of Chester’s school district in being one of the top school districts in New Jersey.

Thank you for your time. On November 2nd, please vote for me, Simone Campbell ballot position #4.
Find me on facebook at www.facebook.com/campbellforchesterboe
Or my website at www.simonecampbellforchesterboe.com

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.