Christopher R. Fee,
Candidate for the Office of School Director
Upper Adams School District

Personally, I am committed to maintaining and to improving the schools of Upper Adams because these are the schools my children attend. Our oldest child loves Biglerville Elementary, where she will begin second grade in the fall, and our middle child will start kindergarten at the same time. Our youngest will be a member of the Biglerville High School Class of 2023. I therefore have good reason for making a long-term commitment to the Upper Adams School District!

I have served as a classroom volunteer at Biglerville Elementary School for the past two years, I enjoy the interaction with the kids, teachers, staff, and other volunteers, and I plan to continue in that role. As a member of the Menallen Quaker Meeting, I serve on the preschool committee of the Menallen Friends Preschool, a program which is familiar to many students and parents in the Upper Adams District. My personal commitment to public service is grounded in traditional Quaker values, one of the most crucial of which is listening: As a member of any board or committee, I believe that I have much to learn from each member of the community or the board who speaks to the concerns that we face in common. I believe that I am quite likely to learn more from the speaker who disagrees with me than from the one who tells me what I’d like to hear, and thus it is fundamental to my faith that I listen carefully for the spirit which causes the words to be spoken, and not just to the words themselves. In simplest terms, I would like to serve our community by listening carefully to the concerns and ideas of all involved, and by voicing thoughtfully such helpful suggestions as I can.

Professionally, I have a PHD in English Language and I have taught at Gettysburg College since 1997. I have taught a course required for teacher certification to hundreds of aspiring teachers over the course of a decade, and my students regularly complete their student teaching in the Upper Adams Schools; I'm also on the Gettysburg College committee that assesses which students the college will recommend to the state for certification to teach in the public schools. I'm now an Advanced Placement reader, too, and I'm hoping to bring a lot of knowledge back from the experience working with the Educational Testing Service, as well. I have broad first-hand knowledge of issues concerning curriculum and assessment, and I would like to be of service to my community by bringing this knowledge to bear on issues facing our schools.