By this time it is known to the community that my retirement from the Farmingdale Board of Education has been announced.

I deliberated for quite some time and after deep soul searching, concluded this decision was the right one for me at this time. For those of you who know me personally, it is with a sad and heavy heart that I leave a role that I have played, in this district for so many wonderful years. This community has been good to me. It's been my distinct pleasure and I have enjoyed serving the residents and most importantly, the children of Farmindale School District.

When I began in 1989, serving as trustee, I had no idea what was in store for me. I had a goal in mind and that was to some how be able to make a difference. It was a promise I made to my best friend and campaign manager, Carolyn Sinner. If it wasn't for her hard work and support I would not have won that school board election. We remain friends today, and I value her wisdom then, as I still do today.

What I discovered in my quest for making a difference, was that you had to be involved. Being involved meant being visible and being visible meant you had to be accessible. One of the ways to be accessible was to remain involved in an organization that has the most dedicated child advocates in it, and that is the Farmingdale PTAs. It was through this organization that my foundation for child advocacy had been cultivated and nutured. It was from this organization that I learned parliamentary procedures, making policies and of utmost importance, lobbying skills. Bcoming a board member helped me fine tune those skills.

Attending PTA meetings gave me the opportunity to learn what was happening in our schools, without physically being in the buildings. People shared with me a multitude of things that were going on, what worked, what needed improvement. Principals shared goals they had set for their buildings. I soon learned that this interaction helped me tremendously in my decision-making role as board trustee. I also knew I had to learn from other stakeholders in the community, and thus began my involvement in many other organizations that do so much for our children.

My attendance at so many functions through all of these years began in my mind as a way to be accessible to the people and their children of this community; and then evolved into my passion for being involved. It's been stated that at times I have displayed an over-enthusiastic behavior especially when accompanied by a large green daler hand. I have fondest memories of being dressed as Woody at Woodward Parkway's sports night and the Daler Lion at a football playoff game held at Hofstra. Attending the concerts, plays, sports nights, invention conventions, honor society ceremonies, awards ceremonies, graduations, parades, athletic events, Newsday marching band festivals, fundraising events, Boy Scout ceremonies, Girl Scout ceremonies, classroom activities, PTA Staff Recognition Day, lobbying in Albany, ground-breaking ceremonies and committee meetings had become such a wonderful and fulfilling part of my life. I thank everyone for sharing all those precious moments with me.

I have been fortunate to be surrounded by a circle of friends who love and support have kept me focused, level-headed and relieved my stress when needed. I want to publicly thank Irene Hutter, Carolyn Sinner, Sue Gabrielli, Kathy Dowling, Terry McPike, Pat Schaffner, and Alana Krumenacker, for without them I would not have been able to accomplish what I set out to do.

Becoming a good board member is not done in isolation. I am so thankful to have learned from great teachers. Dr. Acinapuro is the master teacher. His fountain of knowledge, his patience, his perserverance, his courage and his gentle manner are attributes that I shall be forever grateful to have been in his company to learn from his example. And besides, he tells the best jokes. Carla Peipert and Kevin Armstrong were my mentors. They both taught me the importance of good public speaking, to treat people with respect, and to acknowledge the important role all of our staff play in the lives of our children. By this time my apprenticeship was over and it was time to move into a leadership role. To me the one person who symbolized all of the qualities I've mentioned, who shared with me the belief and passion for community involvement, a beloved friend was Gary Karp. There were times when discussions were necessary and I learned the art of debate from Troy Rosasco. A watchdog of finances, a sense of fairness and equality, a love and pride of Farmingdale athletics was learned by the example displayed by my friend, and former Vice President, Bill Barrett.

I have been privileged to be a part of boards of education that have brought Farmingdale school district to the status it holds today. So many accomplishments have been made and we are about to embark upon even greater accomplishments in the areas of academics, the health and well-being of our children, and the upgrading of the conditions of our buildings and fields. A school district needs a budget to make these accomplishments become a reality. Austerity accomplishes nothing. Austerity hurts. For those of you who want to see Farmingdale grow, to make those accomplishments happen, it's your turn to make a difference. It's your turn to be involved. I urge you to take a positive stand for Farmingdale's future.

My tenure as a board member would not be complete without the help and guidance of our amazing administrators, Dr. Bill Fanning, Dr. Schultz and Mrs. Barbara Horsley. I want to thank you sincerely for your patience and understanding and for a job well done. I am also thankful and appreciative of the outstanding job done by all of our district employees. I want to express my appreciation and gratitude to our attorneys, Greg Guercio, Richard Guercio and also Tom Sabellico for their hard work in looking out for the best interests of this district and for patiently answering my "what if" questions to Josephine Murray, I have admired your hard work and dedication in keeping this district running smoothly. And to Mr. Dempsey, I thank you for treating me as a colleague, for letting me run with my dreams and for your visionary abilities to be an excellent role model as a great leader. And to another leader of people, who has the keen sense of making things happen, who is the role model of child advocates for all children, a dearest best friend a special thank you to Kathy Dowling.

And to my own children, Anthony and Vicky, who had to share their mom's attention with so many people, thank you for letting mom spread her wings.

To the Farmingdale community and our children, I deeply thank you for allowing me the honor of serving you as a trustee of its board of education. I have many wonderful memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I hope you will remember me in some small way, that whenever you feel defeated, just give a listen - I'll be cheering - you can do it - you can do it.

I close by saying the words of Tom Howard, you take Daler pride with you wherever that may be.

Josephine Macchia