Running for the Ellenville School Board, Dan McQuillan is completing the circle. He comes from a family with a long lineage in the area, but began life in Queens. In 1985, his family moved up to Napanoch and he went to school in Ellenville. He eventually played football and was on the track team.

He graduated in 1998, then joined the U.S. Marines and served until 2012. His service took him into the world of engineering, in particular aircraft engines. He spent much of that time working on V-22 Ospreys, the famous “tilt rotor” aircraft that combines vertical takeoff and landing with long range cruising ability at turboprop speeds.

“My service ended in North Carolina, and we stayed there for a while, but moved up here in 2019.”

Today he’s working for a civilian contractor on C-17 engines at Stewart Air Base. He has questions for the lane jumpers he encounters on his daily commute.

He and his wife Ashley have four kids, all in Ellenville schools. “They were all planned and are two years apart.” That means from 14-year-old Cayden down to “Miss Fiona” at age 8. Cayden plays the trumpet in band, is into track and environmental club, and does small engine repair on the side. Ashley is going to nursing school come August and will take her courses at SUNY Ulster.

McQuillan said, “I ended up with a girl from Rondout Valley, she’s my other half, we read each other’s minds and I wouldn’t want anyone else.”

A Blue Devil and a Gander, it happens!

McQuillan grew up in the era when Honk Lake was the place to swim and fish in the summer and the woods were open for running, mountain biking and getting away from it all, too. He laments the recent loss of the lake and the changes that have reduced the wildness in the area over the past 25 years. However, he is looking forward to stepping up into new responsibilities on the Board of Education.

He has thoughts about the big issues facing Ellenville schools.

“Sports, I think sports are very important to children. They let them find out who they are, they share experiences, there’s a brotherhood playing on a team that way.”

“Basically, I think that we, as a board, as a community, need to give our kids all the tools we can, making things available for them.”

McQuillan’s life in the marines took him all over the country. “I lived in many states and they are all different, but the tools for education are the same. So I will be looking, when I move onto the board, to see if there are any gaps in the tool kit that’s available for our students and how we might plug them.”

Parental engagement and leadership are elements that McQuillan wants to boost as much as any one person can. “I feel that parents need to be more involved with what their kids are doing. We should be more banded together in our families, we should always be involved with our kids, so let’s work together with the parents to assist in the development of the kids.”

Finally, “I’m a big believer in the qualities of leadership. It’s not just a military thing, it’s a life issue, and it comes with mentorship. Both of these need to be emphasized to the students in our schools.”

The election for school board members in Ellenville is on May 17, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., along with the budget vote, and will be held at the High School Library. There are three seats in play, with two incumbents, Julius Collins and Jodie Little running again, while Geneva May has relinquished her seat.