My name is Kera McLoughlin and I am running for a seat on the Wantagh Board of Education. My husband and I have been residents of Wantagh for the past six years and have three children; our two oldest attend Wantagh Elementary School. Over the past several years, I have had an opportunity to work with and get to know many people from different parts of our town, but I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to members of the community who may not already be familiar with me.
My commitment to serving the community stems from my educational, professional, and personal experiences. I received my BA from the University of Notre Dame in 1999. Upon graduating, I pursued a career in education. I was a teacher for four and a half years in the Massapequa school district. I first realized my passion for education while I was working as a full-time teaching assistant in Massapequa High School’s alternative school as well as serving as a one-to-one aide for a student in an inclusion classroom. This experience motivated me to obtain my master’s degree and permanent certification from Teachers College, Columbia University, where I graduated with an MA in 2001. I returned to MHS as a full-time social studies teacher where I continued to teach for the next 3 and half years before taking a maternity leave for my first child. I resigned my position in 2007 to stay at home with my children and since then have become actively involved in the community.
In 2007 I began volunteering for the non-profit organization Autism Speaks. My initial involvement was through participation in the Long Island Walk, where as a team captain, I helped lead and coordinate the fundraising efforts of a group that raised over $85,000 for the charity in six years. In 2009 I joined the Autism Speaks LI Walk Planning Committee and in 2010 I became a member of the Executive Committee as the Team Mentorship Chairperson. I was the recipient of the Long Island Walk Now for Autism Speaks Volunteer of the Year Award in both 2010 and 2011.
In January of 2011 I joined the board of Wantagh SEPTA (Supportive Education and Horizons PTA) as Vice President of Ways & Means where I helped coordinate and supervise all of the organization’s fundraising efforts. As a Board, we built upon the hard work of all the SEPTA volunteers who came before us. We worked as a team to grow our budget while simultaneously increasing the programs and resources we could make available to parents, teachers, and students in the community. In addition, we were able to increase community involvement in our organization and as a result, received the Nassau PTA highest membership growth award in 2012. In January of 2012 I became Co-President of Wantagh SEPTA. In this capacity I have worked with other parent organizations, teachers, administrators and board members to help promote the mission of SEPTA including advocacy for inclusive practices throughout our district. Throughout this time I have also been an active member of the Wantagh Elementary PTA and served on the Declining Enrollment/Kindergarten Review Committee.
Through both my professional and volunteer experience, I feel I have consistently demonstrated the qualities our community needs in a Board of Education Trustee and can be trusted to help guide Wantagh through the challenges that lie ahead. I am passionate about our schools and community, I am a tireless advocate for children, and I stand up and fight hard for what I believe is fair and right. I believe we can be proud of what we do well as a community but we can always find ways to do better- by striving for continued growth, improvement, and innovation, we can achieve even greater levels of excellence for our schools. I believe I am the right person to help lead us in this direction.
