Greg White is a knitter, a father, a coach, a surveyor and now a school board member.

He did not set out to be on the Orcas Island School Board, but when the vacancy was announced he suddenly thought he might be a good candidate.

Having three children who attend the public school has helped him understand elements of education. Greg, shown right, describes his kids as representing a wide spectrum of the student body. One is a high achiever, another has autism and the oldest is heavily involved in sports.

“They are involved in a lot of parts of the of the school,” said Greg. “Having that understanding of the school can be helpful.”

Board member Janet Brownell said she couldn’t speak for the entire board, but she did say that there were two qualified candidates that applied.

“It was a tough choice,” she said. “But Greg has had extensive involvement in the schools, and his background professionally will be immensely useful in the next few years of school construction. I look forward to working with him.  He will be a huge asset to the school board and the district.”

For the last ten years he has volunteered in a variety of roles. For several years he coached little league, served as commissioner of little league and started a lunch time knitting club that ran for three years. More than 20 kids would show up for the club and even some boys showed up much to Greg’s happy surprise.

“It’s still pretty uncommon,”said Greg about male knitters.

His love of knitting came to light after raising Shetland sheep.

“The sheep led to spinning wool,” said Greg. “And then I just started to knit.”

He also enjoys working in his wood shop and hopes to someday build spinning wheels.

Greg and his wife Tess have lived on Orcas for 18 years. Like so many residents they came here for a weekend getaway and decided they had to make the island their home. Just six weeks after their trip, Greg secured a surveying job and moved from Portland to Orcas.

“It just felt perfect here,” he said. “It called to us.”

He and Tess had always wanted to live in the country and loved being surrounded by water, so the island fulfilled both of their dreams.

In 2001, Greg started his own business GW White Land Surveying. Now their three kids are all growing up island style. As a board member Greg looks forward to being involved with athletics. He also hopes that his past work as a construction inspector will help him as the school is renovated next year.

“It’s going to be a challenging year figuring out how to get kids fed while the cafeteria is closed and how to keep kids safe,” said Greg. “In the end it will be fantastic.”

He also understands the transition will be difficult for kids like his autistic daughter that rely on structure.

Overall he looks forward to being involved with the bigger picture of the school district, but that won’t stop him from volunteering with individual students and small groups like the knitting club.

“That one-on-one time is really important,” he said.