The polls open in less than a week for Nome’s city election — and three candidates are competing for two spots on the school board.
At Seat C, Nancy Mendenhall and John Tidwell are vying to replace outgoing board president Betsy Brennan, who opted not to run for re-election.
Nancy Mendenhall taught in Shishmaref for two years before moving to Nome in 1973. She continued to teach and worked as an administrator, gaining 25 years of experience in education. Before retiring, she served as director of Nome’s Northwest Campus for nine years. And she said preparing students for life after graduation should be a priority for Nome Public Schools.
“I think that we do a good job here with preparing students who are college-bound,” Mendenhall said. “I think that an area that needs more attention is voc tech — preparing students to go into vocational and technical fields.”
If elected, she said she would like to see the district expand curriculum and advising aimed at post-secondary prep — but not at the expense of the arts.
“I’m very much in favor of attention to math and science, but I do think the humanities have been neglected somewhat because of that,” she said. “We have a very good music curriculum, and I would like to see the other arts get that kind of attention, including fine arts, drama, and languages — both the local indigenous languages and foreign languages.”
Mendenhall has 15 children and grandchildren who have graduated from Nome Public Schools or are going through the school system now. She previously served on the school board in the ’80s.
John Tidwell is also competing for Seat C. He said he may not have the same professional background in education, but he’s committed to improving Nome’s schools and interested in joining the board as part of his “civic duty.” For Tidwell, community involvement is essential to student success.
“Our amount of funding is finite,” he said. “The resource that we have that is almost universal for the students is parents — and concerned individual community members — who are just willing to give some of their time.”
With eight children, Tidwell said he’s a frequent visitor to Nome’s schools, helping out during classes and volunteering at after school activities. He moved to Nome in 2013 after years of living in Barrow and Fairbanks. Tidwell is a sergeant and shift supervisor at Anvil Mountain Correctional Center with 23 years’ experience in law enforcement, having worked with the police department in Barrow and at a correctional facility in Fairbanks.
If elected, he said his goal is to get parents and other community members more engaged in what’s actually happening in the classroom.
“We as a community need to be involved,” Tidwell said. “If we want good citizens — if we want the other end of our children growing to be something we’re all proud of — we all have to be involved as individuals. My hope is to promote the involvement in the classrooms — not just ‘Oh, we’ll donate some money’ or ‘We’ll go to a sporting event,’ but actually to go to the classrooms and help the teachers.”
The other open seat on the school board is Seat D. Retired Nome Elementary teacher Keith Conger is running unopposed for that spot — currently held by Paula Davis, who chose not to run again.
The city election is next week — Tuesday, Oct. 6.
