THREE FILLE FOR THREE OPEN SEATS ON NELL HOLCOMB BOARD OF EDUCATION

Three candidates have filed for seats on the Nell Holcomb Board of Education.

Seeking three-year terms are James C. Wills, Robert W. Rubel and Faye Farrow.

Candidates have until Tuesday to file. This year an additional seat has been added to Missouri school boards, bringing boards to a total membership of seven.

Terms of board members Kathy Stiehl Conway and Bruce Domazilcky will expire in April. Neither has filed for re-election.

Candidates they believe the school district is headed in the right direction and want to make sure it keeps moving.

Wills said: "I just want to be involved and make sure we keep going in that direction. I think we are trying to keep the best quality education for our children."

Wills said he was pleased that the district has departmentalized courses in grades six through eight and that a vice principal has been hired.

Following those actions, Wills said, it's important the district continue to monitor Cape Girardeau and Jackson schools, where Nell Holcomb students attend high school.

"We have to make sure our kids up through the eighth grade get the skills so they can go right in and fit right in."

Wills said this is his first run for public office. He works as an electrician at Procter and Gamble.

He and his wife, Yvonne, live in Rolling Hills subdivision. They have two children, a seventh-grader and a second-grader at Nell Holcomb.

"We have got to remember that the kids are first; that's the big thing," Wills said.

Rubel, who served nine years on the school board, was defeated for re-election three years ago. He has been running for a seat on the board each year since.

"I'm running again," Rubel said. "I want to be involved in the school and help it keep going the way it's going.

"We've now established the junior high, getting kids ready for high school, and now we are working at reducing class sizes. Those are things that are real positive and I would just like to be part of that."

Rubel is employed by Procter and Gamble as a trainer.

He and his wife, Bonnie, have four sons, two who attend Notre Dame High School and two at Nell Holcomb, one in fourth grade and the other in sixth grade.

Rubel coaches Youth League Baseball in the summer.

Farrow said she is seeking a term on the school board because she wants to be involved in education.

"I want to be involved in decisions that affect the school, my child and all the other children in the district," she said.

"I think Nell Holcomb is a good school and I'm proud that my child goes there," said Farrow. She said the faculty and staff are excellent, but she's particularly proud of the district's parental support.

"We really have a strong parent support group," she said. "That makes me more excited about being on the school board."

Farrow said her experience in business and degree in education make a strong combination for a school board member.

She owned a retail clothing business for five years in Cape Girardeau.

"There are a few needs I recognize," Farrow said. "I see a need for some new classrooms to meet the growth of the school, and I'd like to see education strengths directed toward our changing world."

She added that some building repairs are also needed at the school. "Time has taken its toll."

"One personal thing, I would like to see the school add more programs that create excitement in learning, new ways of presentation of things they need to know," she said. "The school does a lot of that now, but I don't think you can have too much."

Farrow is now a stay-at-home mother. She and her husband, Alan, have one son, a second-grader at Nell Holcomb. This is her first run for public office.

She is a member of the executive board of Wesley United Methodist Church and is secretary of the women's group at the church.

Farrow and her husband are Cub Scout leaders at Nell Holcomb.