LEWISTON — Peter Geiger of Lewiston has been elected vice chairman of the Maine State Board of Education.

Nancy Perkins of Cornish, a retired educator and town selectman, has been elected chairwoman. She succeeds Steven Pound, who remains a board member.

Perkins and Geiger were elected to one-year positions that began July 1 and are eligible for re-election.

The board is responsible for overseeing approval of state construction projects, teacher preparation and providing input on policy to the education commissioner, legislators and other branches of state government.

“We have the opportunity to offer advice and guidance to various branches,” Geiger said. “We are advocates for quality education throughout Maine. We’re all passionate about education. It’s a good board to be on.”

Geiger is a longtime advocate of education, founding an adopt-a-school partnership with Montello Elementary School, now in its 25th year.

Geiger is executive vice president of Geiger, a family-owned promotional products company that publishes the Farmers’ Almanac.

He served on the board in the 1990s and was vice chairman and chairman. Geiger was appointed to the board again last fall.

“The work is important,” he said. Members have the opportunity to impact education and Maine “and learn what’s going on in other states.”

That helps him, Geiger said, in the roles he plays promoting quality education in Lewiston.

Geiger also served as vice chairman of the Maine Task Force on Learning Results and is the former chairman of the Maine Coalition for Excellence in Education. He serves as a member of the education board’s school facilities construction and career and technical education committees.

For more information go to www.maine.gov/sbe.

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