Education first, education for all. African-American News&Issues is continuing the mission of keeping the community educated and informed. And when it comes to educating our youth, we must always know who are in those key positions making decisions that will affect our children’s futures. With the upcoming election for the Aldine ISD School Board of Trustees, we want to introduce you to two candidates.
Meet Steve Mead:
Steve Mead has been a resident of the Aldine community since the age of four, and the owner of Component Sales and Services, a geotechnical lab equipment company servicing the Aldine community for over 50 years. He served on the boards of Aldine YOUTH, Aldine Noon Optimist Club, Aldine Scholarship Foundation, Aldine Improvement District, MacArthur Dance and Booster Club, Aldine Fire Department and the North Chamber of Commerce. Mead says he has the experience to protect our valuable taxpayers’ dollars and knows the value of having the necessary resources to educate and prepare every student for success in college, career, and life. His strong belief is that families know their children best, and it is critical that we listen to the voice of the community if we are going to build the solid foundation necessary to raise the student achievement. Mead and his wife Jill have three daughters, all of whom attended Aldine ISD schools and graduated from MacArthur Senior High School. Mead Middle School is named in his honor.
AANI: What position are you running for?
Mead: I am running for school board trustee position 5
AANI: Who are you running against?
Mead: I am running against Emmanuel Guerrero, a 24-year-old who is not married, no children and no school board experience.
AANI: What do you feel you bring to the table that your opponent does not?
Mead: I have been active in the community for over 50 years serving on organizations that support children.
AANI: What programs, if any, are you proud of implementing in Aldine ISD?
Mead: I am proud of our program to expand dual language, immersion, new P-Tech schools, CTE programs at Archie Blanson Technical School, all girls’ school, coming all boys’ school, improving magnet schools and P-Tech school at Carver High School where students can have two years of college and a certificate that can get them jobs after graduation.
AANI: What do you hope to accomplish, if winning this election?
Mead: I want to improve student achievements. Better salaries for teachers and employees. Continue meeting the needs of students, teachers, parents and all others. Continue to produce graduates who will become productive citizens. Keep taxes low and spend stakeholder’s money wisely. Close the gaps between all students.
AANI: What do you see is the biggest change needed within the district?
Mead: COVID forced the district to have virtual learning from home. This was hard on teachers and students and caused reversal in learning. We now have all on site learning, but many children have not come back. We need to find ways to bring our education levels up and get back to where we were and continue to grow. We need to be innovative and make every school a great school.
AANI: How long have you been involved in the Aldine ISD and/or Acres Homes community?
Mead: I have been involved in Aldine ISD and Acres Homes communities for over 15 years. I am president of an organization that provides support for Aldine ISD. We supply bicycles for every elementary school for reading support and give every high school two scholarships every year to Lone Star College. We supply funds to our CTE High School for students with dual credits. We support our Chicken Club Program, an anti-drug program, money for books in Spanish, backpacks, and food for families at Christmas.
AANI: During these troubling times of social unrest and the pandemic, what is the lesson you want the children (particularly Black and Brown students) in the district to learn?
Mead: I want them to know we are concerned for their education. We are using protocols to keep them safe in school. We want them to enjoy coming to school, to be with their friends and help them with all their needs.
AANI: What changes do you feel need to be made with the Aldine ISD Board?
Mead: The boards need to work with the Superintendent and fund innovative ways and do whatever it takes to re-educate and improve education, no matter what changes have to be made.
AANI: Anything that we’ve missed that you would like to add?
Mead: Aldine is a good school district and continuity in the board has made us a good board. Diversity on a board is important.
Meet Nico Mathews:
Nico Mathews graduated from Eisenhower High School in 2002. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Prairie View A&M University and his master’s degrees in political science and public administration from The University of St. Thomas. Mathews’ professional experience includes working as an educator and school administrator. He has been associated with the Houston Metropolitan Baptist Ministers Conference as a board member since 2017. He was born and raised in the Acres Homes Community and is the Community Liaison for State Rep. Jarvis Johnson. I am the proud pastor of The Historic Mt. Pleasant BC.
AANI: What position are you running for?
Mathews: I am running for Aldine ISD School Board Position 3.
AANI: What do you feel you bring to the table that your opponent does not?
Mathews: I am a native Houstonian, born and raised in Acres Homes, and I remain connected to the community.
AANI: What do you hope to accomplish, if winning this election?
I am running to make sure that every child that graduates from our district receives a “quality education” that will prepare them for the next phase of their life, be it college, trade school, military, workforce. I want to also make sure that our schools are safe, with every child learning in a safe environment, and every educator teaching in a safe environment. Lastly, I want to expand student services. We must meet the needs of our students that are non-academic. We must provide students with the non-academic support needed to be successful in school, including, but not limited to, access to mental and physical health professionals, food, housing, and more. My vision is to equip AISD students by investing in the whole child, maximizing academic outcomes by allocating resources to non-academic needs. It is within this vision that we will work to build relationships, collaborate with key stakeholders, and develop strong systems of support for all AISD students and families.
AANI: What do you see is the biggest change needed within the district?
Mathews: The biggest change needed in the district is to elect school board members who are going to work with the superintendent and not against the superintendent and be non-biased in its governance. With that, I believe we can be successful together!
AANI: How long have you been involved in the Aldine ISD and/or Acres Home community?
All my life. I was born and raised in Acres Homes, I attended Aldine ISD K-12 and I have been a community advocate the past 10 years. I worked as the community liaison for State Rep. Jarvis Johnson, and I was significantly involved in the Aldine ISD community working on various projects and with various stakeholders.
AANI: During these troubling times of social unrest and the pandemic, what is the lesson you want the children (particularly Black and Brown students) in the district to learn?
I want the students who are Black and Brown to learn what it means to persevere during times of unrest and social injustices. I want our students to know what it means to push through, in spite of what people say and do. That no matter what, if they are willing, they can be successful regardless of their ethnicity, social economic status or neighborhood. I want them to learn that education is their way out. I want them to keep pressing forward.
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” — Dr. King
AANI: What changes do you feel need to be made with the Aldine ISD Board?
If I am elected to the school board, I will bring fairness, integrity, diversity and community awareness to the board. I will make sure that I host town hall meetings for the community to know what is going and to be their voice.
AANI: Anything that we’ve missed that you would like to add?
I believe that my educational background and my experience in public education will propel me to be an asset to the Aldine ISD School Board. I am proud to be from the 44!
