Faced with six shining candidates able, willing and more than qualified to fill the vacant seat left on the Pacific Grove Unified School District Board of Trustees by the death of Jessie Bray, Board President Mike Niccum asked, rhetorically, “WWJD? What would Jessie do?”

Well, the remaining trustees did exactly what Jessie would have done: carefully weighed the applications, invited each candidate to expound on their qualifications for an extra five minutes, then did three “elimination” polls. In the end, the candidate chosen was Joanne Vanderhorst, a 20-year Pacific Grove resident with two children in the district.

Vanderhorst has a Masters in education. She has taught and been an administrator, was a GATE teacher and had been contracted to write parent education curriculum for the Adult School.

“As an advocate of public education, I wish to provide support, structure and direction to my local schools and leaders while holding the district to its high level of student achievement for all students, regardless of how few are in their subgroup,” she said.