Four seek JWCC board seats

The winners will serve six years on the board overseeing JWCC.

R. Kent Snider

Snider brings “plenty of board experience” to his run for the JWCC board.

The 70-year-old Quincy man served 20 years on the Adams County Board, with six as its chairman. Snider also was a founding board member for the Friends of the Performing Arts and served as board president for Quincy Community Theatre, Spring Lake Country Club, Advocacy Network for Children and currently the Advocacy Network for Children Foundation.

“After retiring from the County Board, I decided I still wanted to be involved in the community. I thought the John Wood board would be a little less time-consuming, plus it’s for the kids and I’m all about the children,” Snider said.

Snider sees key issues for JWCC as finances and continuing to grow the Workforce Development Center.

“The center is very intriguing to me,” said Snider, who was in manufacturing prior to owning and operating Ron Snider Auto Sales. “That’s the new college. Folks are leaving there and getting good-paying jobs. That’s our future right there.”

Andrew Sprague

Sprague seeks a second full term on the board hoping to help JWCC continue its momentum.

“There’s so many things we’ve turned the corner on in the last few years. We’re seeing increased enrollment, the grants that we receive have increased dramatically and we’re seeing the fruits of our labor with the workforce development expansion, the Orr Center and different programs on campus,” Sprague said. “To be a small part of that success is very gratifying.”

The 57-year-old Barry man owns Sprague’s Kinderhook Lodge and Sprague Farms. He is a past chair of the Community Foundation Serving West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri, a 20-plus-year member of the Pike-Scott Farm Bureau board and active in the Hull Lions Club and in worship ministry at Columbus Road Baptist Church.

“Being a businessman, we’re always looking at the return on investment from the college experience. As a board, we’re committed to providing that all-encompassing experience,” he said.

“When you generally have a student for not much more than two years, it’s definitely important to have the feeling of being part of a collegiate experience. That doesn’t always happen at a community college. We have leadership that’s committed to creating that atmosphere, whether it’s the physical plant or the friendly engagement in the hallways with faculty, staff and hopefully other students.”

Key issues for the college include continuing to compete for students, upgrading buildings with work already planned for the science building, meeting the increasing costs of education with additional private dollars to endow permanent scholarships and maintaining career pathways and transfer ability for students.

Sprague said he takes a collaborative leadership approach on the board.

‘I’m somebody that is a good listener, proactive in forming relationships and encouraging communication and teamwork,” he said.

Christopher Adam Holtschlag

Holtschlag worked for just over four years at JWCC, leaving as manager of grounds and building services, to take a special education co-teaching position at Quincy High School.

“Having worked there, I know a lot of the people that still work there, know the staff side of things pretty well, the day-to-day operations,” Holtschlag said. “When the board position opened up, it seemed like a good way to get back involved at John Wood and also kind of help guide them into the next steps of their future.”

Holtschlag, who is making his first run for office, wants to see the college shift more into an online role or open learning classroom setting to provide more flexibility for students.

“There’s more adaptability we could be doing to meet people where they’re at,” he said. “John Wood does have that, but there could be more of that to try to maximize your student base and get as many people in education as possible. That’s what opens up a lot of doors for people just having an education.”

He’d also like to see the college adapt to allow students with an individualized education program, or IEP, come into the classroom for co-taught classes to meet their needs for a higher, better education.

The 40-year-old Quincy man coaches football at QHS and wrestling at Quincy Junior High School, is involved at Madison Park Christian Church and serves as an election judge.

“I just want to encourage people to vote. That’s the biggest thing,” he said. “Local elections impact us a lot, and usually voter turnout is pretty low.”

Elizabeth Weas Cash

Cash has strong ties to JWCC.

As a JWCC graduate who served on the agricultural committee and a past employee of the college who managed the former Blazer Bistro, Cash hopes to help ensure the college’s future.

“I want to make sure that John Wood is still around in the Quincy area in 50 more years and a place for students to go and nontraditional students can try to get extra classes to better themselves — and to make sure they have these agreements with high schools where students can take dual credit,” the 56-year-old Paloma woman said.

“We need to try to get students back on campus to explore and learn that there’s more to John Wood than just going to class. There’s fine arts performances, athletics, art, different things that can enrich their college experience which is hard to do for community colleges because you don’t live on campus.”

Cash, a dairy farmer, works as a paraprofessional in the Unity school district, at Hy-Vee on Broadway and as an Illinois High School Association/Illinois Elementary School Association volleyball official. She served six years on the Griggsville-Perry School Board, 20-plus years on the Illinois Holstein state board and remains active in Ayrshire and Holstein breed organizations, Adams County Farm Bureau and church activities.

“I was not raised to be a wallflower,” she said. “Mom and Dad were both involved in stuff. I have two sisters that are involved in things. You give to the community, and you help people.”