Jameka Hagood knows a thing or two about balanced diets as nutritionist.

But there's a different menu Hagood hopes to serve -- the Blackville-Hilda school board.

Hagood, 33, is a Blackville native and one of three candidates for the two seats on the board. The school board election is April 13. The other two candidates are challenger Michael Thomas and incumbent Annie Patrick.

Long-serving board member Willie Felder decided not to seek another term.

"One of the reasons I'm running is I want to see more academic achievement. One of our schools made AYP. I would like to see more," she said.

Macedonia Elementary recently made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) the federal education standard.

Hagood has a bachelor's in nutrition and food management and a master's in nutritional science. She works for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control as the WIC director for Region 5, which includes Barnwell, Allendale, Bamberg, Aiken, Orangeburg and Calhoun counties.

Hagood is also a nutrional instructor at USC-Salkehatchie in its nursing program.

Hagood would like to see district students exposed to college as an education possibility in earlier grades than just by high school, she said.

"I think we need to get more (college) representatives on campus earlier on, like in the ninth grade, so it gets them thinking earlier about college and college expectations," Hagood said. "We do have a lot of students doing great things but if they aren't pushed, they could fall between the cracks."

Hagood had already been involved in the district as a parent with her 8-year-old daughter.

From 2005 to 2008, Hagood was the vice president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Organization at Macedonia Elementary.

From 2008-09, Hagood was on the parent involvement committee with the school improvement council. This school year Hagood is the chairperson of the council.

From her involvement in these organizations, it spurred Hagood toward a deeper commitment to improving the district, which is why she is running for school board, she said.

Besides academic achievement, Hagood would like to see Blackville-Hilda student eat healthier if she were on the board.

Hagood would like to see the district serve less processed foods and more of a fresher variety, she said.