by MARTINSBURG — James Humen is running for a spot on the Berkeley County Board of Education.
Humen moved to the Eastern Panhandle in 1990 when he attended Shepherd College, earning a degree in business administration. In 1999, he got a job at Quad Graphics, where he has worked for the past 25 years and even met his wife. He is currently the technical area lead and has four sons who all attended schools in Berkeley County.
Humen decided to run for the board of education after being approached by the Democratic Party in the area. He was asked to consider running for something, and after looking at his options, Humen decided that the board of education would be the best fit for him.
Many of his family members were teachers, including his father, mother, aunts and grandfather. He also works with kids through Boy Scouts and helps young men learn about the outdoors and the world around them.
“I’ve worked with kids for a long time,” Humen said. “I’ve been with the Scouts for 17 years. Parents have asked me if I’m crazy for holding a piece of wood while a kid hammers a nail into it, but I enjoy it, and they haven’t hit me yet.”
With his experience with education and working with the Boy Scouts, Humen hopes to impact the school system for the better. One of the main issues Humen wants to address is finding better ways to deal with the behavior issues in the schools. He’s heard about several issues where students did not receive a punishment that reflects their actions. By giving the power to the school principal to review each situation properly, Humen hopes to resolve some of those issues.
He also believes that censorship in schools has created major issues and that book bans should be stopped. He believes students should be allowed to read whatever they want, and the school should not hinder them.
Humen thinks that students deserve a well-rounded education that prepares them for the future. One major part of that is cursive writing. There is a generation that isn’t properly trained to read and write cursive, which is hindering their ability. Humen wants cursive to be added to the current curriculum, so students can function as adults later in life.
If he is elected, Humen hopes to use his degree in business administration to help the board as it builds more schools to deal with the growing population. With how fast the county is growing, Humen believes it’s important that everything stays organized.
For more information about Humen and his campaign, visit his Facebook page.
