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Three candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for two seats on the Hazelwood School Board. The election will be held on April 3. At 6:30 p.m. on March 1, the Hazelwood PTA Council will host the annual “Meet the Candidates Night” in the board room of the HSD Learning Center at 15955 New Halls Ferry Road in Florissant.

Mark Behlmann has been on the Hazelwood Board of Education for 15 years. He is a widower with one daughter, Kari, and two granddaughters.

A journeyman carpenter, he is a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School who operated a custom home building business for 22 years until retiring in 2010. He is the builder / developer of the premier North County subdivision Parc Argonne Estates.

He has served as director and president of the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce, president of the Florissant Parks Foundation, president of the Friends of Pallottine, and director on the Pallottine Renewal Center Board. He is also a member of North County Inc., Old Jamestown Association, Old Town Partners, St. Louis Home Builders Association and the Spanish Lake Democratic Club. He is a recipient of many awards: Outstanding Young Men of America 96, Chamber Business Person of the Year 97, Old Jamestown Association Citizen of the Year 02 and Trinity Catholic High School Hall of Fame 03.

He received the highest level of certification offered by the Missouri School Board Association. He also served as director for MSBA and was the Region 7 Governmental Relations Chair. “Community service, involvement, and participation require a lot of personal devotion,” he said. “Fortunately, my family and I believe in these qualities for supporting a positive community environment. Being a productive school board member requires a lot of time, understanding, and patience. These experiences have taught me a lot in life, and I’m eager to learn more.”

Desiree Whitlock has been a Director on the Hazelwood School District Board of Education for nine years, serving as President, Vice-President and Secretary. She has also held offices with the PTA at Keeven Elementary School, Kirby Junior High and Hazelwood East.

She has served on various committees including Hazelwood 1st, Middle School Planning, Behavioral Guide Planning, Propositions 4, H and 1st, Scholarship Selection, Hazelwood Educator Evaluation Taskforce, Policy Review, Key Communicators, Legislative Advocacy and the Interview Committee for Teachers and Administrators.

Ms. Whitlock has lived and been an active parent in HSD for the past 23 years.  She has worked on the polls for Hazelwood 1st, Propositions E and H.

She is the mother of two daughters, Desiree B. and Bryona.  Desiree B. is a 2005 graduate of Hazelwood East and a graduate of Indiana State University. Bryona, a 2010 graduate of Hazelwood East High School, is a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff.

Ms. Whitlock earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Fisk University and a Master of Science in Healthcare Management from Lindenwood University. She has been employed by the BJC/HealthCare System for the past 27 years in the field of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. She has done community speaking engagements on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and Mental Health issues. She is a former Mentor in the St. Louis Public School System, and former Girl Scout Troop Leader at Keeven.

She is currently the Coordinator of Retail, CPPW with the St. Louis County Department of Health.

Keith L. Boykin Sr. A St. Louis native, he attended and graduated from the Normandy senior high in 1978. A few years after graduating from high school, he attended DeVry in Kansas City, Missouri. After graduating in 1991 with an associate’s degree in electronics, Mr. Boykin worked at the Chrysler Plant in Fenton for a number of years, leaving in 2003 to pursue a dream of owning his own business. His company is Handyman Contracting Company known as Boykin & Sons Group, LLC.

Mr. Boykin has resided in the Hazelwood School District since 1995. After eight years of marriage, his first wife passed away. They have two sons, D’Artanyun and Keith Jr. Mr. Boykin also has a son named Joseph, who is 28 and two daughters Jannie 22, and Keila 20. In 2005, Mr. Boykin remarried. His wife, Ada, has two daughters, Kalah and Monikah, from a previous marriage.

Mr. Boykin is a member of Dads of Great Students (DOGS), Fathers.com and serves as a youth pastor at his church Kingdom Learning Center. He attended and graduated from Shepherd School for Pastors. The school is designed to help perfect a gift for pastoring and is located in what was formally known as Saint Louis Christian Center on Pershall Road. Mr. Boykin’s four children currently attend Hazelwood Central High School. He said, “As a concerned parent, I am looking forward to helping form the minds of our youths so that they can become productive contributing members of society.”