The Guilford County Board of Education has selected Christopher E. Gillespie to serve as the next representative from District 1. Gillespie was chosen from a pool of six candidates who were interviewed at a meeting Monday night.

Gillespie will fill the vacancy left by J. Carlvena Foster, who was elected to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners in November. He will begin his term after being sworn in on Dec. 18, prior to the next scheduled board meeting.

Gillespie serves as the executive director of West End Ministries in High Point and an instructor of nonprofit management at Forsyth Technical Community College. He is an active member of the High Point community and has been an employee of Guilford County Schools as a teacher, a director of an afterschool-care program and a tutor.

Board member Linda Welborn, who made the motion to select Gillespie, said she appreciated his experience with students and the realistic answers he gave during the interview. “He knows our student population and the challenges they face,” Welborn said. “Change doesn’t happen overnight, and he understood that.”

Gillespie holds a master’s degree in nonprofit management from High Point University and a bachelor’s degree in public relations from North Carolina A&T State University.