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Serena Shoop

LAS CRUCES - Personal setbacks led to Serena Shoop's resignation from the Las Cruces school board, but once she gets everything settled, Shoop said she wants to serve the community again.

"Once I get my life back on track, which I don't want to bore you with the gory details, but once I am financially, spiritually and emotionally focused again, I want to get involved with the community somehow," Shoop said.

Shoop, 42, was elected to the four-year position on Feb. 3, 2009. She replaced Leonel Briseño, winning the election by almost twice as many votes. She said she ran because "there was a feeling of disconnect between the employees and the administration downtown." Before joining the board, she worked as an educational assistant at Zia Middle School and said she wanted to "bring awareness of life in the trenches, so to speak."

By statute, Shoop was required to leave her job at Zia and she went to work with Young Pecan Company in Las Cruces, where she continues to work.

Her resignation was affective Jan. 31. Shoop said she couldn't dedicate as much time, energy and attention to the school board as she wanted.

"Without getting into the gory details, I suffered a few major losses that caused me to lose focus, one of those being the loss of my younger sister to breast cancer," she said.

"I would also like to thank everyone who supported me and offer my sincere apologies for my early resignation."

The school board now seeks a replacement for the balance of

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Shoop's term, which ends in February 2013. Candidates for the position must be at least 18 years old and a registered voter residing in District 2.

Shoop said she would recommend serving on the school board so long as the future representative has the time and the financial resources to do so. She also said it was important to fight for the good cause and encouraged her replacement to speak their mind.

Christine Rogel can be reached at (575) 541-5424.

To apply

•Qualified individuals seeking to represent District 2 on the LCPS Board of Education must submit a statement of interest and completed questionnaire by 5 p.m., Feb. 23 to:

Karen Robles

505 S. Main Street, Suite 249

Las Cruces, NM 88001

krobles@lcps.k12.nm.us

•For more information visit: lcps.k12.nm.us.