2019 primary election: Tharp announces candidacy for Tamaqua school board

Karen Tharp has announced her candidacy for Tamaqua Area School Board. Tharp resides in West Penn Township with her husband, Blake, and her 13-year-old son, and is the daughter of John and the late Barbara Fredericks of Tamaqua. She also is the mother and stepmother of six adult children and a grandmother of 10 (three of whom attend school in Tamaqua).

Tharp is a Tamaqua graduate and has a bachelor’s degree in education as well as a master’s degree in counseling psychology. She had worked for the Schuylkill IU as a special-education teacher at both the Schuylkill Technology Center and the adolescent psychiatric unit.

She was also employed as an admissions representative for LCCC, where she oversaw the Morgan Foundation scholarship and the associate degree program for Tamaqua students. In 2008, with her lifelong friend, she developed and opened Climb-a-Lot Clubhouse in Hometown, which she ran successfully for five years before selling it.

Involvement in the community and schools has always been important to Tharp. She was an active member of the Tamaqua Elementary PTO for 13 years and the West Penn PTO for five, holding various leadership and committee positions over the years. She is now in her 12th year as a Raider Band Booster and has coached youth soccer and been active with the Brownies, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, serving as a leader and merit badge counselor.

She also served on the DARE steering committee and the Tamaqua Drug Busters and is president of both the West Penn Youth Association and the Tamaqua Blue Waves swim team boosters.

Tharp looks forward to continuing to serve the school district in a leadership role and to helping the children of the district have the best opportunities that can be provided for them in a safe environment. As a parent, she understands how important it is to feel heard by the people she is entrusting with her children and wants to improve the communication and transparency between the school district and the community.