By Brittany Hanson/Garden Grove Journal
Bao Nguyen was sworn Tuesday as the newest member of the Garden Grove Unified School District’s school board.
Nguyen, 31, is a Garden Grove native and a product of the Garden Grove school system.
Nguyen has been appointed to the school board to fill the position left by Dr. KimOanh NguyenLam when she took a position in Washington DC in June.
Dr. Jose Moreno, a board member of the Anaheim City School District administered the oath of office for Nguyen, who is the youngest member of the board in recent history.
Nguyen has stated that his goal is to build bridges in the community and create better avenues of communication to the families and students that are a part of the school district.
The new board member had many guests attend the swearing in, among them Congressman and Orange County Community College board President Jerry Patterson, Senator Lou Correa and former GGUSD board member Frank Kellogg, who was on the board when many Vietnamese began to settle in Garden Grove after the Vietnam war.
“Thank you [Nguyen] for reaching out to our community in encouraging engagement in these difficult times,” said Moreno.
“our children are not raised alone and certainly do not learn alone.”
The decision to appoint Nguyen came after heated discussion on how a replacement would be chosen to continue the one year left on the seat.
“You [the board] made a very fine choice. The right decision,” said Patterson, “Bao Nguyen is a very hard worker and represents a strong constituency . . . we look forward to improving and continuing to improve all our relations.”
Nguyen took a moment to thank in English, Spanish and Vietnamese those who had worked with him and who had attended.
“To all my supporters friend colleagues for being here and for your continued support work together more so that all of our students achieve success,” said Nguyen, “I promise to try my best.”
