Nancy Widman Secures Re-Election to East Meadow School Board: What It Means for Education

East Meadow Board of Education - Nancy Widman

While preparing this article, we caught up with one of our distinguished Salisbury Leaders, recently re-elected East Meadow BOE Member, Nancy Widman.

Q: Why did you originally get involved in politics back in 1972?

My family have been die-hard Republicans from "day one." Back in my senior year of high school (1972), I had a friend who was very politically savvy and he asked me if I wanted a part time job after school where I would work with one of his friends who ran a political bumper sticker/button business geared to Republican candidates. I eagerly accepted. This was just before the summer of 1972 when Richard Nixon was running for President and Spiro Agnew was his Vice Presidential pick. My boss and his wife were driving to the Republican National Convention in Miami in August, and asked me if I wanted to join them. It was very exciting to see the convention in person and very impressionable to an 18 year old to experience. From that day on, I was bitten by the bug. When I returned, I sought out the Salisbury Young Republicans and joined their club. I even attended the Nixon/Agnew Inauguration and Presidential Ball the following January! The rest is history!

Q: What inspired you to run for the East Meadow School Board in 2022?

After Jeff and I married in 2008, we purchased my childhood home here in Salisbury. I became concerned when I was told about the progressive direction our schools had taken. I thought that, if elected to the Board of Education, I could add a more conservative perspective to the Board. However, long before I considered a Board run, I was proud to be a strong and active proponent for East Meadow's full day Kindergarten program, informing my friends and neighbors about the program, and distributed flyers (at my own expense) throughout my neighborhood, and addressed the Board of Education on my support of the program. I believe that early childhood education is imperative to ensure a positive start to school. These young minds are so eager to learn and our district was lagging behind neighboring districts who had already implemented their full day kindergarten program. I was happy and pleased that, in 2015, full day Kindergarten in East Meadow became a reality. Our students are our future leaders. They need every tool possible to achieve.

Q: Now that you've been re-elected, what issue do you plan to be more involved with during this next term?

I am truly honored to have been re-elected to serve another term on the East Meadow School Board. Our message is, and always has been, all about supporting the kids and providing the very best education and tools for the future success of all our students. Our music departments, athletic teams and special education programs are second to none. There is always much to do to keep our district successful. Together with the newly elected and existing Board, I will always fight for the best for all of our students.

Q: Throughout our lives, we constantly hear headlines about national politics, and the news doesn't always highlight local issues. Why should people care about local politics?

Local politics affects our everyday lives. Local politics and local issues set the precedent for policies made on the state and national level. Our local politicians help to shape our lives, our communities and especially help to shape our schools, which as I stated above, is very important to me. People sometimes need reminding that voting has consequences. As Salisbury residents, we should always stay informed and be concerned about safety and security in our neighborhoods, and we need to rally and support our local Republican politicians who have our best interests at heart, and encourage others to get involved to help make a difference.

I was born and raised in East Meadow and attended Meadowlawn Elementary School, K-6 (now McVey), Meadowbrook JHS, 7-9, (since closed and demolished), and East Meadow High School, 10-12. I graduated in 1972. My four children and oldest grandson are all East Meadow graduates. I’m so happy that I can contribute to bettering your child’s education in our community that I call home.