Two freshman directors and three returning board members officially took their seats on the Weatherly Area School District Board of Education this week.

Newly elected Director Brandon Pugh, who won a four-year seat on the board in the November general election, took the oath of office along with returning directors Amy Potsko, Gerard Fewins and Corey Gerhart, all of whom won re-election to four-year terms in November.Magisterial District Judge Joseph Homanko administered the oath.The directors appointed Fewins to serve as board president, and Potsko as vice president.In addition to the four-year term, Potsko also won a two-year seat in the general election. By taking the oath of office to the four-year seat, Potsko, in effect, surrendered the two-year seat.Immediately after the board reorganized with the new and returning directors seated, Fewins convened a special meeting for the purpose of appointing a candidate to fill the two-year vacancy.Gerhart nominated former Director Bonita L. Urban, who was unsuccessful in her November attempt at re-election as a Libertarian candidate. Director Georgeann Herling gave second to the motion, but Gerhart and Herling were the only two directors to vote in favor of returning Urban to the board.Director Gerard Grega followed the action with a call to nominate Matthew von Frisch to fill the seat. The board gave its unanimous approval to the nomination and Homanko returned to the floor to administer the oath of office to von Frisch.From her seat in the audience, Urban embraced von Frisch and said, "Congratulations," as he walked to the floor.Director William Gerhard led the board in acknowledging Urban's 23 years of service on the board.Von Frisch, 36, of Weatherly, said he has considered serving on the school board ever since he and his wife, Deana, became parents. Their daughter, Madisyn, 8, is a third grade student at Weatherly."I always wanted to throw my hat in the ring. With this vacancy on the board, I thought now is the time," von Frisch said.A senior programmer analyst with the Lehigh Valley Health Network, von Frisch said he is a strong supporter of the board's recent efforts to implement a technology-based curriculum and provide every student with their own assigned laptop, net book or tablet to use at home and in school on a daily basis."This board has been wonderful. They've been doing some great work and I want to keep the ball rolling," von Frisch said.Pugh, a Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit employee who lives in Packer Township and works with special education students in the district, said he is eager to start his work as a director."I'm excited and ready to go. There are a lot of positive things going on in the district and I look forward to working with the directors to keep Weatherly Area moving in the right direction," Pugh said.Pugh and his wife, Karen, have two daughters, Deanna, 5, and Mikayla, 2.In re-organizing, the directors appointed Fewins to the president's seat with Potsko as vice president. Former board president, John Toft Jr. did not run for re-election to the board. Gerhart served as vice president under Toft.Distributed by MCT Information Services