With more than 20 years of educational experience and a child about to graduate high school in the spring, Gethsemane Moss is ready to serve Benicia and its youth in another big way. She wants to be a school board trustee.

Moss is running for a seat on the Governing Board of the Benicia Unified School District where she hopes to bring her educational experience. She began as a teacher, where she taught first, second and sixth grade at Steffan Manor Elementary School and Vallejo Middle School. She later became a middle and high school administrator and has spent the last six years with the Solano County Office of Education, where she is currently the senior director of community engagement and public information officer.

Moss is also closely connected with her community. She is the parent of a recent Benicia High School graduate and current Benicia High School senior and is currently in her second term on the Arts & Culture Commission, which recently helped put on the Benicia Film Festival, oversees grant funding and manages the Public Art Program. As one would expect from someone on such a commission, Moss considers herself a strong proponent for art education.

“I know, and research definitely supports it, that art integration in any content area really helps with comprehension and being able to access information,” she said. “Art integration definitely has a significant role in any area, whether it’s math, science, history or social studies.”

Moss said she had considered running for the school board a few years ago but felt it was not the right time since she was finishing up her doctoral program at Grand Canyon University. With her last child graduating, she felt the time was right.

“I have more time to focus on other areas around getting involved in a community,” she said. “Because I’ve been an educator for a while, I believe I have the knowledge and understanding of our system. I feel like it’s one of those areas where I can contribute.”

Moss likes the fact that BUSD is a smaller district than those in other areas, consisting of just four elementary schools, one middle school, one comprehensive high school and one continuation high school.

“There’s more of a connection in terms of looking at what the needs of the population are,” she said.

However, Moss noted that as with any district, there is always room for improvement. One of her big concerns is school safety, especially with numerous widely publicized incidents at campuses throughout the country over the years. Moss said safety trainings with police agencies have made this especially apparent.

“The information that they give us in those trainings is that this is something that unfortunately is on the increase,” she said. “It’s not decreasing, so we really need to be making sure that we’re prepared in case of an emergency.”

Another top priority for Moss is ensuring that students have a plan after they graduate.

“I believe it’s really important that students have a handle on what their options are when they graduate,” she said. “I don’t believe that a student should graduate and not have an idea of what path they can take.”

Finally, Moss wants to promote mental health awareness and support, noting that peer pressure and anxiety have become heightened due to social media. She wants to ensure that students going through social anxiety know where to go for support. Additionally, she believes the district should be transparent on these matters.

“From the District Office to the school sites, there should be transparency with our community (and) with our parents,” she said. “Everybody should know the process of if there’s a change or if there are concerns. Communication is a big deal.”

Moss is excited about being able to run, and she is thrilled that so many candidates are running.

“It’s exciting to see so many folks in the community stepping up to want to take part in working on behalf of the students and our community,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the process and sharing my expertise.”

For more information on Moss, visit her campaign site at votegethsemanemossforbeniciaschoolboard.godaddysites.com.

The other candidates in the race are incumbent school board President Diane Ferrucci, real estate agent Adrean Hayashi, Pittsburg Unified School District teacher Mark Maselli and retired elementary school librarian Sheri Zada. The top three vote-getters will serve on the school board. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6.