Millburn school board to appoint new member

The Millburn Board of Education will fill its open board seat next month.

Oyin Owolabi was selected by the board to fill the vacant seat left by Michael King, who stepped down in April for a move to North Carolina with his family.

She is scheduled to be sworn in during the board’s meeting on June 4 and will serve as a board member until Dec. 31.

“I want to continue to support the efforts of the board, the school administrators and all the PTO organizations in ensuring that our children have the best possible school experience that fully prepares them for the very competitive world they will be entering,” Owolabi stated in her letter of interest.

Owolabi said she hopes to expand the STEAM program in the Millburn school district.

“STEAM is important because if you look at engineering, for example, a lot of girls are not finding it exciting anymore,” Owolabi said. “We need to be able to capture not only girls, but all children and see what the excitement is, you know, when you join the robotics club or when you do science.”

She said teaching children about the sciences, engineering and math at an early age is key.

“You have to infuse it [STEAM] into the curriculum,” Owolabi said. “I’ll dig a little deeper once I get on the board to see where we are right now.

Owolabi is a clinical project manager for Prolong Pharmaceuticals, according to her LinkedIn profile. She attended Fairleigh Dickinson University College at Florham.

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She has three children in the Millburn Public Schools: one in Washington School and two in Wyoming School.

Owolabi ran unsuccessfuly for a board seat in last November’s general election.

She was one of six township residents who vied this May to fill the vacancy, which expires at the end of 2018. Danielle Prieto, Steven Green, Cori Haase, Cathy Rooney and David Schlossman also submitted letters of interest to the board.

The remainder of the term will be up for election in November. The term ends Dec. 31, 2019. Three other board seats will also be up for election this November.

The deadline to file with the Essex County Clerk to run for a seat is July 31.

 

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