Beloved Chambers Board Of Education Representative Steps Down

On Wednesday, Chambers County School Superintendant Casey Chambley and the board called a special meeting to regretfully announce that Mr. William “Bill” Martin III submitted his resignation to the Chambers County School District as the board representative for District Six on Monday, March 7, 2022. Mr. Martin had remained on the board after stepping down from his role as Board President in November of 2021.

Mr. Martin was the longest-tenured member of the board having served the Chambers County School District for the last thirty years. Mr. Martin began serving as a board member for the Chambers County School District in 1992.

He had hoped to complete his current term in office through November of 2022 but needed to resign his duties due to personal reasons.

Chambers County School District Superintendent, Casey Chambley noted it was with deep regret that he would humbly ask the board to accept Mr. Martin’s resignation at Wednesday’s, special called meeting for the Chambers County School District. Mr. Chambley noted that Mr. Martin provided a wealth of experience from his long-term commitment as a member of the board.

Mr. Jeffrey Finch has served since 2006 as a board member for the Chambers County School District. In November of 2021, Mr. Finch was elected to serve as the new President of the Board. Mr. Finch succeed Mr. Martin as the Board’s new President when Mr. Martin announced he would not seek re-election to the board in November. It was Mr. Martin’s desire to ensure a smooth transition of board operations when he stepped down as Board President in November of 2021. Mr. Finch had served as Vice-President since the spring of 2019. Mr. Finch represents District One for the Chambers County School District.

Mrs. Vicki Leak serves as the board representative for District Five for the Chambers County School District. In November of 2021, Mrs. Leak was elected to serve as the new Vice-President for the Board. Mrs. Leak succeeded Mr. Jeffrey Finch as the Board’s Vice-President when he was promoted to the position of Board President. Mrs. Leak, herself is a retired educator who has served as a board member for the Chambers County School District since November of 2016.

Mr. Finch nominated Mrs. Jennifer Hunt to succeed Mr. Martin as the new board representative for District Six of the Chambers County School District and the board unanimously approved the nomination. Mrs. Jennifer Hunt is married to her husband, Blake Hunt and they have four boys that all attend schools here in Chambers County. Mrs. Hunt will fulfill the duration of Mr. Martin’s term as the representative on the board for District Six. She is running for the seat unopposed in the upcoming election to represent District Six on the board for a full four-year term beginning in November of 2022.

In other board news, Mr. Chambley announced a partnership for the school district with SOLV Energy based in San Diego, California. SOLV Energy is committed to taking on projects that have the opportunity to provide cleaner power, better jobs, greater education, and a brighter future for our communities. It has a powerful legacy supporting its efforts focusing on renewable energy initiatives. SOLV continues to build and manage more effective utility-scale solar, energy storage, and high voltage substation solar installations. The CCSD and SOLV Energy launched the PowerUp! Challenge! as part of an educational initiative with the LaFayette H.S. senior class in early February. The goal for the “Challenge” is to encourage students to explore their relationship with energy and share conservation strategies for their own communities.

At last Wednesday night’s meeting of the Chambers County School District, Superintendent Chambley announced that SOLV Energy had committed to sponsoring a Solar Kit Car Challenge lesson that will be carried out with students across the district from Kindergarten to 8th grade. SOLV Energy sent thousands of individually packaged model solar kit cars to have students complete this STEAM activity focusing on science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. Students will conduct engineering-type testing using their car models to measure the capability of the world’s smallest solar-powered car on an obstacle course of their design. Each of the board members was provided with a copy of the DIY Solar kit car provided for the district’s students. SEI is an environmental nonprofit that is also partnering with the district to provide educational lessons for driving sustainability solutions