Board of Trustees | Manchester Essex Education Fund

Tim Averill served the Manchester and Manchester Essex schools from 1971 until his retirement in 2005. He founded the Manchester Essex Speech and Debate team and served as coach for the first 35 years. Tim also served as English Department Chair from 1975-2005, teaching Advanced Placement English literature. When Tim retired, he began part-time work at Waring School in Beverly as Writing Department Chair, Debate Coach, and teacher. Tim has served on the Board of trustees since 2000.

A Senior Product Manager at EBSCO Information Systems, Annie Cameron is the mother of four children who graduated from the Manchester Essex schools.  She has served on the Essex PTO, the MERSD Regionalization Subcommittee, the MERSD School Building Committee, and the School Committee. She currently serves on the board of Action Inc., the Essex Elementary School Building Committee and the Essex Board of Selectmen.

A teacher, administrator and director of guidance at Manchester and later Manchester Essex schools, Linda Crosby devoted most of her professional life to serving the young people of our community. Since her retirement in 2005, she became a co-founder of the Manchester Enrichment Fund and is a former member and Chairperson of the Manchester School Committee. In addition she was, until recently, a director of CAB Recovery Services, an arm of Northeast Health Systems. Linda has been a director of the Manchester Essex Education Fund for twenty years. Currently she is affiliated with the Waring School in Beverly as its Director of College Counseling.

Nick de Sherbinin is a retired advertising creative director and currently publishes the online North Shore travel guide, Off Course. A Manchester resident for nearly 40 years, his two daughters are graduates of Manchester Essex Regional High School. He is a long-time supporter of the regional district and coached youth soccer with the Manchester Soccer Club. He has served on the board of the Manchester Essex Education Fund since 2012.

Jeffrey Jones is the retired President and CEO of Melrose Bank. He formally served on the Essex Board of Selectman for 12 years and before that served on the Essex Finance Committee for 6 years. Jeffrey currently serves as the Town Moderator for the town of Essex where he resides with his wife Rebecca. Their two daughters graduated from Manchester Essex Regional High School.

Abby Levendusky is a life-long resident of Manchester. She was a graduate of the high school where she and her husband, Jason (also a Manchester graduate), have sent all 3 of their children through the school system. She currently works at Manchester Memorial School in special education. She is excited to be working with the Manchester Essex Education Fund after helping start the Benjamin H. Gannett Memorial Scholarship.

Bev retired from MERHS after ten years as the Director of Guidance and College Counseling and continues to serve on the MEEF Board of Directors. Before returning to Cape Ann in 2014, she spent a majority of her career in student affairs at The University of Maine, Hamilton College, and Colgate University where she served as Dean of First-Year Students. A native of Gloucester, Bev is invested in her community and specializes in coaching individuals at various stages of their education on the academic preparation and skill development required for a successful transition to college and/or employment. She holds her M.Ed. from the University of South Carolina and a B.A. in English from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts..

Gail Ramos is the former vice president/senior trust officer for the Cape Ann Savings Bank Trust and Financial Services. Gail holds the professional designations of Certified Financial Planner®, Certified Trust and Financial Advisor, Certified IRA Specialist, and Certified Financial Services Counselor. Gail is a Past Member of the Town of Manchester by-the-Sea Finance Committee and Capital Plans Advisory Committee, the Board of the North Shore United Way and the Board of Essex County Estate Planners Association. She is a life-long resident of Manchester, where she currently resides with her husband Ronald.

The former owner and managing partner of The Landing at 7 Central and The Marblehead Landing, Chris is the president of the Manchester / Essex Rotary Club. A graduate of Holy Cross College, he serves on the board of the Masconomo Council Knights of Columbus and sits on the Manchester Downtown Improvement Committee. A 30 year resident of Manchester, both of his children are graduates of MERHS.

Tyler Virden is a Project Executive/VP with Windover Construction Inc. in Beverly. He grew up in Manchester attending both Manchester schools. And is now a resident of Essex with his wife Julia and two school-aged boys. He is an active community member in Essex and is currently serving on the MERSD Building Committee.

Caroline Weld has been involved with MERSD as a member of the School Committee for nine years, serving 3 terms. She currently serves as co-chair of the MERSD School Building Committee and has been with the building project since the beginning leading the Elementary Configuration Task Force. She has one child in the school system, and is happy to continue the Weld Family tradition of serving on the MEEF board.