An Anne Arundel County public school employee from Pasadena filed his candidacy for the District 3 county school board seat in the November election.
Chuck Yocum is the senior manager of business and community development for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. He’s worked for the school system for nearly 36 years. Yocum will be running for the seat that is held by school board Vice President Corine Frank. Frank has not indicated if she is running for reelection.
A West Virginia native, Yocum, 60, moved to Maryland in 1988 to be a teacher in Anne Arundel County. He is set to retire in July.
The additional free time from retirement aided his decision to run for the school board. Yocum filed for the seat on Dec. 26.
“I think I have a unique perspective on how the system runs and where I can best serve our community and make changes,” he said.
Yocum said his current job is to help establish partnerships between teachers and local businesses. He also seeks out internships, mentorships and places for field trips.
“This summer, fingers crossed, I’m hoping to organize a trip to West Virginia University so students can see the Green Bank Radio Observatory,” he said. “It’s the world’s largest moving radio telescope. You can fit two WVU football stadiums inside of the telescope.”
Yocum says when he was 6 years old he had an accident that forced him to wear an eye patch. He remembers distinctly how important it was to him that his teachers protected him during that time as he was insecure about his injury.
“I lost my vision and had to wear an eye patch for a year and then I had a second surgery which forced me to wear an eye patch for a second year,” he said. “But once again my teachers protected me, and it was during that time that I knew I wanted to become an educator.”
He fulfilled his passion as an educator but hasn’t lost his will to help young people, which his why he has now turned his sights on the school board seat.
The field of candidates is growing as the Nov. 5 election approaches. Two other Pasadena residents have filed to run for District 3. The filing deadline is Feb. 9.
“This is Pasadena, this area cares,” he said when asked why so many candidates are running. “This area cares about its kids, its schools, and I think folks have just decided they want to participate in the system. At least for three of us this is how we have decided to participate.”
During the pandemic, Yocum used Caring Cupboard, the nonprofit food pantry he founded in 2018, to help feed students who had depended on school breakfast and lunch.
Yocum began to post on the organization’s Facebook page that it was here to help families in need. He immediately started getting calls, including some from as far as Hagerstown, Maryland and Northern Virginia.
“We were feeding 50 kids a day at a point,” he said.
Yocum’s children have attended the Anne Arundel County school system; two daughters graduated from Northeast High School and a third is currently a junior .
“I also have a granddaughter now who may be starting pre-kindergarten, I hope,” he said.
Yocum believes that his experience within the system, both as an educator and a parent, would give him a unique perspective on the board.
He said he would focus on teacher retention and the most important parts of education, or what he calls DRAWING: discipline, reading, arithmetic, writing, innovation, nurturing equaling greatness.
“I think we have an opportunity here to have one of the greatest school systems in the nation,” Yocum said. “I’m a big supporter of programs of choice and giving every kid the opportunity to learn.”
