William U. Cartwright

Incumbent; elected to Board and has served since 7/1/2016.

Personal Data

My career in education has spanned forty-eight years. I have held the positions of classroom teacher, elementary school principal, school psychologist, Committee on Special Education chairperson, and most recently, twenty-five years as a school superintendent. I completed eight years working for SUNY Potsdam, supervising student teachers. My education includes a Master's Degree in Teaching from the University of Tennessee, a Master's from St. Lawrence University in School Psychology, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Administration from SUNY Oswego, and a Doctorate in Educational Administration from Columbia University.

My wife, Susan, a retired Gouverneur elementary teacher, and I reside on the Country Club Road, Gouverneur, in our home of forty-three years. We have three married daughters, Jennifer, Emily, and Diana, and three grandchildren.

Statement which addresses why you are interested in serving on the Gouverneur Board of Education:

My extreme interests in education and lifelong learning have inspired me to run again for a third term on the Gouverneur Central School Board of Education. As a retired educator, I remain eager to stay abreast of the changes and practices in this crucial field.

I am excited to continue learning about new concepts in education and the best ways to help students in the Gouverneur school system. My experience as a student teaching supervisor for SUNY Potsdam afforded me the valuable opportunity to observe, understand and participate in many of the North Country schools. My daughters, who were all Gouverneur students from their first school days through graduation, have benefited from the merits of this District, and have gone on to successful careers.

Serving as a school board member is a fulfilling way to serve our community and students. It also offers me the opportunity to use knowledge from my long career, remain current on educational research, strategies, and technologies, and aid in decisions which best impact our Gouverneur students.

Naaman Lowry

Incumbent; elected to Board and has served since 7/1/2020.

Personal Data

I was born and raised in Rochester, NY. I attended and graduated from Edison Career and Technology High School in 1982 in Rochester, NY; I studied masonry theory. I joined the US Army in 1983 where I served at various duty stations, positions, and assignments. I served 3 combat tours. I retired from the US Army in 2015 after 30 years of service. After retirement I worked for various government agencies. I retired from the St. Lawrence County Sheriff's in 2020. I studied at Columbia Southern University where I received an Associate Degree in Occupational Health and Safety. I earned a certification from The National Tractor Trailer School as a professional truck driver. I earned certifications from the University of Pennsylvania for Sexual Assault Response Coordinator/Suicide Intervention Trainer. For the past 15 years I have held several key leadership roles as a Department of Defense civilian at Fort Drum and the West Point Military Academy. I was part of the New York Army National Guard in 1998 when I got deployed to Gouverneur for the ice storm. I met my partner of 24 years, Pat Williams during the ice storm. I have been a member of the Gouverneur community for 24 years. I'm the owner of a small masonry business, an officer at the Gouverneur Elks Lodge 2035, member of Gouverneur Masonic Lodge 217, member of the Scottish Rite of the Syracuse/Norwood Valleys, member of Masonic War Vets Post 60, member of the International Shriners Temple/Media Shriners of Black River, NY, Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local #2, and I sit on the Trustee board as Vice Chair at the First United Methodist Church. I'm currently a member of the Gouverneur School Board for the past 2 years.

Statement which addresses why you are interested in serving on the Gouverneur Board of Education:

I hope to bring my vast experiences as a past leader in the military and the ability to look at an issue from all sides to make the best-informed decisions for the greatest outcome for our students and staff.

I hope this "new normal" is not normal. I hope that whatever guidance we get from the state government, health department(s), or other agencies we must base our decisions going forward - we model those guidelines to fit our community. The one thing that was the hardest hurdle for the students in the community during the pandemic was access to the internet. I think we need to look a little closer at this issue, because there were so many children left behind because of limited internet access. We must wait, learn, collaborate, and devise an educational plan for all our students.