Story by Hanna Bae
Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of South Pasadena Unified School District
Contributor
The School Board voted unanimously to appoint Karissa Adams as its new provisional member at its meeting on Tuesday Nov. 9. Adams’ appointment comes after former school board member, Dr. Suzie Abajian’s, resignation in September as a result of relocation.
The Board received 11 applications for the position and selected Adams after conducting interviews with eight other candidates.
Adams graduated from Boston University and worked in a research laboratory at Harvard Medical School before moving to South Pasadena in 2007 with her husband. Since then, Adams has served as the president for both the Arroyo Vista Elementary School PTA and the South Pasadena Council PTA. She is also a part of both the SPMS and SPHS Booster Clubs and volunteers with the South Pasadena Little League as the Softball Commissioner.
“We had a tremendous group of candidates, it was wonderful to meet a broad cross section of different experiences,” Board Clerk Zahir Robb said. “While everyone brought a lot to the table…it seemed that [Adams] could dive right in with…connections and awareness within the schools and the larger community to help us move forward in our work.”
Adams is set to join the Board at its next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 14.