Joshua Garcia, 25, works at the Holyoke Housing Authority and is getting a master's at Westfield State University.
HOLYOKE – Joshua A. Garcia, a 25-year-old newcomer who works at the Holyoke Housing Authority, said he is running for the Ward 1 School Committee seat.
“Overall, improving teacher and student achievement will be my priority as it will contribute to the success of our efforts to transforming the Holyoke public schools to be the best in the district,” Garcia wrote in an email recently.
A city native, Garcia is getting a master’s in public administration at Westfield State University, where he also received a bachelor’s in psychology, he said.
He is a service coordinator at the authority, which he said puts him in position to help “Holyoke families reach for self-sufficiency.”
Education is the strongest step to self-sufficiency because it makes individuals able to take steps that improve their lives.
“Education is the number one anti-poverty program available to all residents,” he said.
He promised to devote energy to ensuring the anti-bullying policy is followed, decreasing the teen-pregnancy and high school dropout rates and increasing the graduation rate, he said.
He believes he has a strength in his experience working with young people in areas such as the Holyoke Youth Commission and the Upward Bound program, he said.
He founded the “First Light for a Brighter Holyoke” group that lights up the Canalwalk for the holidays, “with the goal of building community pride and increasing business growth in the Arts & Canal District,” he said.
Gladys Lebron-Martinez, incumbent Ward 1 School Committee member, has taken out nomination papers to run for the Ward 1 City Council seat.