Staff, students, friends, and family honor Peters for 17 years on school committee
By Carol Britton Meyer
After serving for 17 years on the school committee and deciding not to run for re-election, Stephanie Peters was honored for her dedication and hard work by a large turnout of students, staff, sports team members, friends, and family on April 24 during her last meeting.
SCHOOL’S OUT. This past week’s school committee meeting was the last for member Stephanie Peters, who decided not to seek re-election after serving 17 years. Family, friends, staff members were among those who gathered to celebrate her contributions and wish her well. [Courtesy photo]
Proclamations were read, kind words expressed, and flowers presented in appreciation of Peters’ efforts to bring the community walking track and turf field to reality and other accomplishments.
State Sen. Patrick O’Connor presented her with a proclamation and told Peters that her name would be read into the Senate record.
Superintendent Judith Kuehn shared a list of what she called “Stephanie’s Greatest Hits” – besides the turf field, these included her role in holding three open houses to highlight what the school system has to offer, a 2012 U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon award that honors schools that are high-performing and closing student achievement gaps, participation in the New England Association of Schools and Colleges decennial accreditation of Hull High School in June 2012, and creation of the 21st Century School program, with the goal of providing Hull students with an education to succeed in the current workforce.
state Sen. Patrick O’Connor presented stephanie Peters with a proclamation from the state house at her last school committee meeting this week. [Courtesy photo]
“Stephanie attended at least 340 school committee meetings, not including budget subcommittee and negotiation meetings,” Kuehn said. “She has also built relationships and earned the respect of other town departments while often not agreeing with their positions. At the same time, she has fought for fair coverage of the schools in our local paper. For many years, the schools were an easy target for what was wrong with the town. She has been consistent in advocating that investing in our schools benefits the entire town.
“Steph always had the mentality of why not us?” Kuehn continued. “She never wants to hear ‘we can’t,’ but works tirelessly to come up with a plan for how to make something a reality. She is all about student achievement and opportunity. She worked tirelessly on behalf of the students of Hull. She attended the Hull Public Schools and wanted to ensure the students had the best educational experience as possible. Mediocre isn’t in her vocabulary.”
“This is just really nice,” Peters, who isn’t one to sing her own praises, told The Hull Times, “I’m a little overwhelmed!”