The Reading Post accepts Letters to the Editor. All letters must be signed. The Reading Post reserves the right to edit or not publish any letters received. Letters do not represent the views or opinions of the Post. editor@thereadingpost.com
Dear fellow Reading residents,
It is with great enthusiasm that I endorse Megan Fidler-Carey as candidate for Reading School Committee. I am Megan’s husband, so of course, my support along with our daughter Marlie’s support is a given, but I wanted to offer a perspective that most people do not have. I have known Megan since early high school and I’ve seen her consistently do three things in everything she does; collaborate, build community, and communicate effectively.
Collaboration has been central to every role Megan has held since entering education nearly 20 years ago. The subject of Megan’s Education Doctoral dissertation was how schools can build effective partnerships to span the traditional boundaries schools and districts. Through her work in the Boston, Revere, and now Medford public school systems, she has worked with teachers, school administrators, superintendents, students, and parents to understand needs and work to meet them. Woven throughout all of this work is a foundation of listening, understanding priorities and motivations, finding areas of consensus, and implementing solutions. This doesn’t mean seeking out opinions and motivations that align with your agenda. It means working to meet various constituencies’ goals while ensuring that long term outcomes are better, primarily for our children.
Community has always been important to Megan. With each move throughout her childhood, college and adulthood, Megan has sought to build and strengthen community. Heck, she still hosts a holiday party every year with friends from High School! Since joining the Reading community, Megan has become a town meeting member, board member for the Reading Educational Foundation, member of the Reading Cultural Council, and part of the leadership team for Reading Embraces Diversity. Megan works to establish connections between people and institutions as well as between institutions to find reciprocal benefits. I see her do this every week and am excited at the idea of her bringing this skill to Reading.
Effective communication is imperative for any work involving people. Every day Megan employs the skills of active listening, questioning, analyzing, processing, and then articulating solutions to various audiences. The audiences include Megan’s staff of 90 people, the Associate Superintendent she reports to, the School Committee she presents to, any number of the 450 students in the afterschool program or their parents. Understanding what’s important and how to meet needs is Megan’s daily job and something any effective School Committee Member should have.
Let’s elect people who have proven experience and success doing things that we think will help our town. I think it’s that straightforward, and I think Megan fits the bill very well.
Sincerely,
Charlie Carey
