CANTON — Superintendent Jill Rossetti and the Blue Hills Regional Technical School’s District School Committee are pleased to announce the appointment of new district school committee member Yahaira Lopez.
Lopez was officially appointed to the position on Monday, Jan. 31 and will represent the Town of Randolph. She attended her first School Committee meeting as a member on Tuesday, Feb. 1.
“We are pleased to welcome Yahaira to our district school committee as our newly appointed official representing the Town of Randolph,” Superintendent Rossetti said. “We greatly look forward to the experiences and perspectives she brings with her to our committee.”
Lopez has over 15 years of experience working with children, youth and families in many different capacities having worked at the Boston Public Schools, Department of Children and Families (DCF), Boston Center for Youth and Families, and more.
Most recently, Lopez has worked as an autism support broker at VinFen and has founded the company Autism Sprinter, Inc., a parent-led grassroots organization building parents as partners in special education. In both roles, she’s been an advocate for those living with autism and their families.
“Vocational education programs play a critical role in the lives of students in marginalized groups; they help build up students through a student-centered lens that helps break systemic inequities in access to trade jobs that can break generations of poverty and discriminatory practices. I am honored to be in community with the Blue Hills Regional Technical School to build a better and more equitable vocational education system that is inclusive for all,” Lopez said.
Lopez is currently in the process of obtaining her master’s degree in public administration from Suffolk University. She also holds a master’s degree in human services from Springfield College and a bachelor’s degree in social work from Salem State University. She has also received a Certificate in Disability and Health Policy from the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopment Disabilities Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
The District School Committee consists of nine representatives from each of the towns of Avon, Braintree, Canton, Dedham, Holbrook, Milton, Norwood, Randolph and Westwood.
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