SNJ Today: Cedric Holmes – Vineland’s School Board History Maker
VINELAND – Cedric Holmes is a history maker.
At 21, he is the youngest person ever chosen and ever elected to the Vineland Board of Education in Cumberland County. He was appointed last spring and won a full three-term seat on the board last November.
That was not even Holmes, the lone African-American on the board, first try at school board, running when he was a senior at Vineland High School. He captured a seat on the board in his third try.
But make no mistake, Holmes said he does not see his election as the end of his political journey but as merely the beginning. In the Sept. 13 SNJ Today story, he told Clyde Hughes he has plans on what he would like to accomplish for the community and students – some of which he attended high school with just a few years ago.
“I could cry now because I know his father would be so proud of the things he’s been able to accomplish at 21. He made sure that faith played a major part of our life. I’m honored to be his mother. These days, you don’t hear anything positive about black boys. I pray that he will continue to follow the path God has him on. The best is yet to come.†— Iola Holmes
With the support of a loving family, including his mother Iola Holmes, Cedric has he sights set on possibly a future run at city council and maybe even the mayor’s office. His work has won over Rev. Albert Morgan, pastor of the influential Union Baptist Temple in Bridgeton, where Holmes works as an administrative assistant.
In all, Holmes said he wants to change the view of millennials by some as a social media, smartphone absorbed group that cares only about themselves. He said his generation is beyond those labels.
Read the SNJ Today story by Clyde Hughes here.
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