Three Applicants to Vie for Open Ferndale School Board Seat
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Jan. 10, 2014)
The Ferndale Public Schools Board of Trustees will hear from three applicants on Monday night, and decide which one will fill the seat left vacant by longtime Trustee and Board President Chuck Moeser when he resigned in mid-December.
Lakesha Hill, Jennifer LaTosh, and Mercy Servio turned in applications for the volunteer position.
Lakesha Hill has a daughter attending Ferndale High School as a senior, a son who is in 5th grade at Coolidge, and a nephew in first grade at Roosevelt who is also under her care. She works in Human 
Resources at an environmental company and has volunteered as a chaperone for her kids’ field trips. She also has been a mentor for two girls in Detroit.
“The board should appoint me because I can personally relate to our troubled youth and I am a living example that success can be achieved even under the unlikeliest of circumstances. I went from a high school drop out to a Master’s Degree. All it took was one person to show concern form my future. There is a purpose for all that I’ve gone through. My path to success was through rough pastures, yet I found my way. It’s only right that I reach back and help others find their path to success as well,” Hill wrote in her application.
Jennifer LaTosh is an attorney with two sons attending JFK. She recently served as a volunteer on the Strategic Planning Committee for the district.
“I have a strong commitment to our public schools and I believe I possess a basic knowledge of the 
strengths and weakness of our district, and a strong understanding of the community’s strategic goals. Professionally I am an attorney specializing in domestic relations and probate litigation. I believe my cross-over skills would be an ability to work with people during emotionally charged situations and guide them towards amicable and equitable solutions,” LaTosh wrote in her application.
Mercy Servio has been a PTA member at Grant and a PTA Treasurer at Roosevelt, where her daughter currently attends. She works as a substitute teacher and has experience in office environments.
Servio sees bullying as the biggest challenge to the district, having encountered it in her job as a substitute 
teacher. She also wrote in her application, “I would like to see more improvement on pupil county, stronger curriculum and better technology for our teachers and students so that we can compete with other school districts. I would offer more time on marketing the FPS. With all these important factors this will put FPS in better education choice for families.”
Complete applications can be found online at http://www.ferndaleschools.org/boardofeducation/documents/Board%20Reports/January%2013,%202014%20Special%20Board%20Meeting%20Report.pdf.
The meeting will take place Monday, Jan. 13, 2014 at 6:30 pm at the Harding Administration Center. Each applicant will have a brief time for opening remarks, and then will face up to 15 minutes worth of questions from Board Trustees. The selected applicant will then serve the remainder of Moeser’s term, set to expire at the end of this year.
For more information about Ferndale Public Schools go to www.ferndaleschools.org.
