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Letters to the Editor January17th Kiera Campbell -- Jeff is a passionate advocate who gets things done As a mother of four children and a former teacher in the Arlington Public Schools, I am writing to express my support for Jeff Thielman’s candidacy for state representative. I am voting for Jeff because he is a passionate child advocate with over twenty years of experience working on behalf of young people around the globe. He has helped transform the lives of thousands of at-risk children by creating opportunities in education both here and abroad. As an Arlington School Committee member, Jeff has fought tirelessly to improve services for students with special needs. He has lobbied for higher quality instruction for English Language Learners in our district. When Jeff learned that nearly 1 in 6 Arlington elementary students were not reading at grade level, he advocated for a district-wide reading program. This initiative, now in its second year, has already benefited so many students in our school system. At the national level, Jeff has continued to champion for the economically disadvantaged by serving as executive director of the Cassin Educational Initiative Foundation for over seven years. Under his guidance, the foundation has helped establish 18 high schools in some of the nation’s poorest cities and provided start-up funding for 40 Nativity Miguel middle schools. Together, these two networks are currently serving over 8,000 children, further illustrating Jeff’s ability to serve those in need. (To learn more about these foundations see www.cristoreynetwork.org and www.nativitymiguelschools.org.) Beyond the U.S, Jeff served as a Jesuit International volunteer in Tacna, Peru where he taught high school for over three years during the 1980’s. There, he founded The Center for the Working Child to help Peruvian street children and their families. To date, the center has provided health, nutrition, education and housing services for over 7,000 children. Jeff captures this experience in his book, “Volunteer: With the Poor in Peru” (www.authorhouse.com), which details the founding of this ongoing project and how it has created opportunities for an entire community for over two decades. If elected to the State House, Jeff Thielman will continue to champion for public education so that every child, in Arlington and the Commonwealth, has an equal opportunity to reach his/her full potential. Jeff is a compassionate child advocate who will bring over twenty years of leadership and experience to the job. I encourage you to vote for Jeff Thielman on February 5. To learn more about Jeff’s candidacy, please visit www.jeffthielman.com. Kiera Campbell
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