Candidate: Casmore Alfonso Shaw

Echoing through the impeccable career of Casmore Shaw, master educator and 2020 candidate for the Osceola County School Board, is an impressive series of scholarly pursuits and appointments in administration, instruction, and community advocacy, which position him to be an unmatched candidate to join the forward-looking leadership team.

"Only the educated are free..."

Shaw often references this quote by Epictetus, a man born into slavery whose life was transformed through education. The assertion is essentially that only the educated can unshackle themselves from mediocrity and shallow understanding in favor of a more expansive, innovative and, therefore, constructive worldview.

Osceola County is a diverse community whose fortunes are rooted in the exact kind of Imagineering espoused by Epictetus. As we pivot unceremoniously to a post-pandemic world, the need for the transformational leadership of our school board has perhaps never been more critical. Our schools need a Board that can confront an array of tough challenges with innovation, work collaboratively, make well-informed decisions, and represent the needs and interests of all students, their parents, and the community at large.

Shaw holds degrees in Elementary Education, Business Administration with a concentration in Supervision and Management, and an Advanced Certificate in Health Care Administration and graduate degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a minor in Reading Intervention fron Concordia University. He has worked at the senior management level in the areas of training and developement, marketing and sales as well as education administration.

Since moving from New York in the 1980s, Shaw has been very much embedded in service to Osceola County. He currently serves on the Osceola County Housing and Finance Authority Advisory Board, the Regional Board of MetroPlan Citizens Transportation Advisory Board, and is a member of the Osceola Education Foundation. However, he also has a long history of civic service at the leadership level in a raft of community organizations including: as a founding member of the Kissimmee Bay and Kissimmee South Poinciana Rotary clubs; past charman of the Osceola Charter Review Commission for two consecutive terms 2008-2016; former chair of the Osceola Land Conservation Advisory Board; past chair of the Board of Directors for the Osceola County Library Systems; past President and Vice President of the Caribbean and Floridian Association; past chair of the Osceola County School District's Affirmative Action Advisory Board; former Conflict Resolution Officer/Mediator; 9th Judicial Circuit, Osceola County;former member, Board of Directors, American Cancer Society; Habitat for Humanity, and is a member of the NAACP.

Shaw also made time too for a rewarding pesonal life, which seems to propel him further, and gives him even greater perspective in service. He has been married to Jennifer Mitchell for over 40 years and they have four daughters: ToniAnn, Deirdre, Dionne, and Jennise. He credits his family and living a faith-based life for his sustained sense of purpose, his confidence in overcoming challenges, and commitment to the welfare of others.

Indeed, Shaw's life's work proves his passion and commitment to leveraging the power of education for our collective social good as much as for our freedom and advancement. He embodies the depth of expertise and breadth of experience needed to carry out the Board's challenging mandate during these unprecedented times. Let us do all we can to ensure we leverage the acumen and passion of Casmore Shaw to benefit Osceola County's District 3 community!

Please VOTE CASMORE SHAW for Osceola School Board, on Primary Election day, August 18, 2020.

www.casmoreshaw.com

casmoreshaw2020@gmail.com   Phone: 407-244-6950