Jens Michaelsen and Patty Norris Lubold were sworn in on Monday, January 5 as Holyoke’s newest School Committee members by Holyoke City Clerk Brenna Murphy Leary during an inauguration ceremony at City Hall. Mr. Michaelsen is now the new Ward 5 representative replacing John Whelihan, and Ms. Norris Lubold is the new Ward 6 representative replacing William Collamore. Mr. Whelihan and Mr. Collamore both chose not to seek re-election last fall.
Jens Michaelsen
Mr. Michaelsen said he ran for the Holyoke School Committee to "ensure families have a clear, informed voice in district decision-making.” He plans to focus on district policies and accountability among his top priorities, he said, noting that “we have the opportunity to completely flip the status quo on its head.”
Mr. Michaelsen moved to Holyoke in 2011 for employment opportunities—and because he was drawn to the region for its rich cultural and historical contributions, as well as the canals. He is employed as a transmission system outage coordinator at ISO New England, where he helps ensure the reliability of the region’s power grid.
Prior to moving to Holyoke, he served in the United States Navy aboard submarines, working as an electrician in the nuclear power plant. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and a bachelor of science in Human Resource Management from The New School in New York City. “That experience instilled in me a deep respect for rigorous training, shared responsibility, and equity—because in a submarine, every crew member must be prepared to act, and any one person can save the ship in a moment of crisis,” he said.
Mr. Michaelsen has identified three priority focus areas: special education, chronic absenteeism, and retaining teachers. “Nearly a third of Holyoke’s students follow an IEP (individualized education program), and I want to understand much more about that, our staffing ratios, how the process works, what information and data we have available to help us make decisions,” he said. Likewise, he wants to learn more about how the district is supporting student attendance and what can be done to improve attendance rates in general and for individual students specifically. He also recognizes the importance of retaining teachers who serve as important trusted adults for their students, which he believes can be accomplished through more inclusivity to ensure their voices are heard.
Patty Norris Lubold
“I ran for Holyoke School Committee because I believe every child deserves to learn in a school system that sees their potential, meets their needs, and honors their individuality,” said Ms. Norris Lubold, a lifelong Holyoke resident. “As a parent who raised her children in Holyoke Public Schools and a longtime advocate for students with disabilities, I’ve seen both the promise and the challenges of our district up close. As a mother of a student with dyslexia, my two boys’ experiences in HPS were completely and I believe unnecessarily different and difficult. I decided to serve to help bridge that gap, turning our intentions of Juntos Podemos into action and our policies into meaningful, measurable progress for students and families.”
Ms. Norris Lubold is a strategic consultant and communications coach at MassMutual, where she focuses on strategic planning, execution, and governance within the company’s global technology division. She also serves on the leadership team of a disability-focused business resource group, helping advance inclusion, professional development, and business strategy for disabled employees and their allies. Ms. Norris Lubold brings extensive experience in executive communications, operational and organizational strategy, change leadership, and inclusion to her role on the School Committee.
An award-winning journalist and former podcast producer, Ms. Norris Lubold has written extensively on social justice issues, education, and healthcare. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and creative writing from Manhattanville College and has completed multiple executive education programs, most recently “Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy” at MIT Sloan, along with “Leading Change and Organizational Renewal” at Harvard Business School.
In joining the Holyoke School Committee, Ms. Norris Lubold identified three goals: strengthening inclusion, accountability, and communication. Her allied interests include teacher retention, equitable resource allocation, transparent governance, leadership accountability, and community engagement.