Jessica Resnick-Ault is Strategic, Positive and Commited to Education
- Thursday, 15 April 2021 12:58
- Last Updated: Thursday, 15 April 2021 13:01
- Published: Thursday, 15 April 2021 12:58
- Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 2227
(This letter was submitted by Melissa Brown Subin)
I endorse SBNC nominee Jessica Resnick-Ault for the Board of Education because of her incredible positivity, commitment to education, listening skills, and ability to look at the long-term, even while putting a band-aid on immediate crises. I have seen these qualities first-hand in her volunteer leadership of Bake Back America, and know she is eager to put them to work for the District.
My favorite word to describe Scarsdale is “amazing.” Along with my husband Herb, an SHS graduate, I have raised my own two children here. They are now in high school and middle school. I care deeply about our town and schools. As a Scarsdale native and parent, I think Jessica’s magic touch would be a great asset for our district.
Jessica stood out to me early in the COVID-19 outbreak, when she volunteered with my family’s charity organization, Bake Back America. Overnight, Jessica went from helping her daughter bake cupcakes to helping address profound needs during COVID 19, using the relationships we had with schools, hospitals and food pantries to make sure families had the necessities and educational tools they required. Jessica did big picture strategic planning while also delivering toys to food pantries at 6 a.m., rallying volunteers to replace the quarantined, or even tie-dying t-shirts to make sure there were enough for plus-sized kids at a local shelter.
Jessica’s ability to listen to problems and calmly turn them into action items helped the organization grow. Within a month, she became a leader, someone whom I consulted daily on important decisions and who helped shape our vision. That work ethic and broad growth-oriented perspective lends itself to service on the school board.
Jessica recognizes that while being a leader is important, being a partner is more so. Jessica is a team player who brings a dry sense of humor and perspective that make seemingly impossible problems manageable.
Jessica is a key player on a team that has made our organization a national force providing 250 hours a week of tutoring, laptops and extracurricular activities for students in need, necessities for struggling families, and creative volunteer opportunities for kids who want to help out. Jessica is an advocate of diversity and inclusion in our organization and has made sure no population is overlooked either for volunteering or for receiving services.
Jessica has proven that she will carefully research every problem and follow protocol, but the beautiful thing is she will do it quickly and consider others’ perspectives. She can build consensus even when it seems impossible. I have seen this first-hand as she has coordinated Bake Back America’s work with over 45 non-profit organizations during the pandemic.
A school board member must be trustworthy, and I trust Jessica completely.
I appreciate the SBNC’s review process and I urge you to come out to vote on May 18 to support the slate of Jessica Resnick-Ault and Jim Dugan.
Sincerely,
Melissa Brown Subin,
Reimer Road