Where to with the Monroe Public Schools Board election (one write-in and one vacant chair)? I have known Floreine Mentel well for over 40 years. I have known her as my student, as a fellow educator, and a friend of Monroe history.

She has worked mightily as an advocate for the underserved. For many years she has been a vocal person in the community for encouraging students to complete their GEDs, and most recently she has been a key person with Monroe County Community College’s highly successful “Learning Bank.”

Floreine not only has the best interest of the students at heart, but she possesses the experience, knowledge and ability to understand and facilitate the collaborative ventures that will surely be materializing on the horizon with the Monroe Public Schools, the Monroe County ISD and Monroe County Community College. She seems an ideal write-in candidate for the Monroe Public Schools Board of Education.

James E. DeVries

Monroe