Upper Adams School District (UASD) school board welcomed Mikel Grimm as its newest board member Tuesday.
The vacancy resulted from the recent passing of board member Bruce Hollabaugh, and Grimm was chosen to complete his four-year term.
The board was legally required to fill the vacancy within 30 days and interviewed seven applications.
Grimm is fluent in Spanish and is committed to supporting the 30 percent of district students who are Latino. She actively works as a member of the Latino Task Force, Healthy Adams County, Adams County Food Policy Council, and Manos Unidas.
Grimm is the Human Resource and Safety Manager for the Adams County Nursery. As the manager of nursery’s H-2A contract labor program, Grimm works with contracts and applications to support the migrant community.
Grimm said she hopes to create a more welcoming school environment for minority students, to be an outreach for voices that do not usually get heard, and to assist underrepresented groups. “Not necessarily race, but students who tend to not fit in the box,” she said.
Grimm recently worked with Penn State Extension to implement a supervisory training for agricultural supervisors in Spanish. “Seeing those individuals finish the training and the glow in their eyes when they received their certificates is a moment I will never forget,” she said. “One individual in particular called his mother in Mexico and showed her his certificate, and with tears in his eyes told me that it was the first time in his life his mother told him she was proud of him.”
“I think that ensuring everyone has an equal chance to an education and a positive experience should be the number one priority,” she said.
School Board President Tom Wilson thanked the seven applicants for their time and willingness to step up and volunteer for the district and urged all applicants, and anyone interested, to continually support the district.
“It is very heartwarming to see members of the community step forward to do this. You have our collective thanks and my personal thanks,” he said.
A.L. Grabenstein, reporter, is a graduate of Philadelphia's La Salle University with a B.A in Communication and has been a journalist since 2016. She has reported for the Gettysburg Times and the Times Herald in Norristown, PA. Grabenstein moved to Gettysburg from Montgomery County in 2019. She was born in San Antonio, TX., and previously lived in Virginia, and North Carolina. Grabenstein is actively involved in the borough of Gettysburg and loves giving voices to the local community.