It’s all ABC’s:
Aaron for Burrillville’s Children

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           August 23, 2008

For further information contact: Aaron Coutu at XXX-XXXX or XXX@email.XXX

COUTU RUNS FOR SCHOOL COMMITTEE:

Priority on Kids Needs within the Means of the Taxpayers

BURRILLVILLE – Aaron J. Coutu, 32, of XXX Street in Pascoag announced his candidacy for one of the open seats on the Burrillville School Committee. 

“I am running because I feel a strong responsibility to give back to a community that has given me so much.  I believe this is the best way I can help make Burrillville the best that it can be,” Coutu said when asked why he is running.  “Children are the future of any community, and I am trained in how to help them achieve their potential.”

While the town’s children will be at the forefront as he serves as committee member, he realizes the current difficult economic times call for unique ways to satisfy state and federal education standards while keeping the costs for the taxpayers down.  One way of doing this is to reach out to the community to create collaborations beyond the existing school improvement (SIT) teams.

“I find it surprising that the district seems to only look inward to parents, teachers, and administrators for solutions.  By reaching out to related groups in the town such as the town libraries, the business community, boards like the Juvenile Hearing Board, and local organizations like the Garden Club and the Downtown Pascoag Neighborhood Association, the district may find ways to supplement the tools we have to reach the educational needs of our children cost effectively,” highlighted Coutu to support his example.

As for his previous public service, Coutu is a member of the town’s Juvenile Hearing Board, the Board of Trustees and the Friends of the Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library, and the Riverwalk Times.  He has also served on the Library Facilities Committee and as the Chairman of the Library’s Capital Campaign Committee, which raised about $150,000 to help defer some of the cost of construction.

Coutu graduated from the University of Rhode Island (URI) with a bachelor’s degree in journalism & political science and a master’s degree in library and information science.  He works at the Greenville Public Library, where he is a specialist for teens and children.  Coutu is also an instructor at URI’s Graduate School of Library and Information Services, where he teaches courses relating to public libraries and serving children and teens.

# # #