Every school year the Friends School of Portland Board of Directors undertakes a process to find new members to replace those who are stepping down and to expand our collective talents and experience. Last school year, the FSP Governance Committee intentionally made changes to our recruitment efforts with the goal of diversifying our membership. Instead of relying primarily on the existing community connections of our present Board members and the Head of School, we instituted a more formal nomination process to broaden the circles in which we find new members. As we try new processes and shift how we recruit new stewards of FSP, we recognize that we still have work to do.
We are thrilled to share four new board members who will help continue our important work. Our new members bring a wealth of expertise in education, child advocacy, school management, Quaker faith, and diverse life experiences to the Board; they will undoubtedly enrich the collective wisdom of the Board as we guide the school in the coming years.
It is with great pleasure that we introduce the newest members of the Friends School Board of Directors:
Kathy Beach is a longtime member of Portland Friends Meeting. She is a retired nurse-midwife, having practiced in Portland for 33 years. She still enjoys getting to know families with young children. Her grandniece, Cosette, has been at FSP for 2 years and is in kindergarten this year. Kathy and her husband Chris live in South Portland.
Fritz Weiss worked in Vermont in public schools helping them become better at educating students who struggled with emotional and behavioral challenges. He helped launch three new schools, two as part of the team and one as a parent. He retired and moved to Portland in 2019 just in time for the pandemic. Fritz has been active among Quakers in New England for many years. He served as the presiding clerk of New England Yearly Meeting for four years from 2015 – 2019.
Galen McNemar Hamann attended Earlham College which sparked a love of Friends Education
and a 20-year career in Friends Schools. While at Moses Brown School, as the Director of Friends Education, Galen got to know Friends School of Portland faculty through professional development. That was an impetus for visiting the school on Mackworth Island on a day that
she had the good fortune of seeing the Itidarod reenacted on the snowy hills. After serving as
the Assistant Head of School at Virginia Beach Friends School, when Galen returned to New
England, she was eager to support Friends School of Portland: the vision, the faculty and the hands on Quaker Education she had come to know. Galen now serves as the Middle School
Director at Thayer Academy and lives with her wife and 3 children in Braintree, Massachusetts.
Luc Nya is currently employed by the State of Maine as Children’s Behavioral Health Program
Coordinator. He has a deep interest in early childhood education and has loved and supported
the Friends School of Portland from its inception. He is thrilled to join the FSP Board. When Luc
is not volunteering on a nonprofit board, he loves to garden. He lives in Saco, Maine.