NATCHEZ — The Adams County Board of Supervisors appointed a new board member to the Natchez Adams School District Thursday afternoon after interviewing three candidates for the position.

The board voted unanimously to appoint Dianne Bunch, a professor of American literature and writing at Alcorn State University, to the school board seat vacated by Reneé Wall, who announced in March that she would be resigning at the end of the school year to focus on her family and career.

Other candidates for the position included Jerry Ogden, a Natchez native and graduate of Louisiana State University who has practiced engineering for nearly 40 years, and Dalton McAfee, a retired professor from North Carolina State and Alcorn State universities who owns and operates a bed and breakfast in Natchez.

Bunch said she felt she would be a good candidate for the school board position because education is her expertise and she cares about education in Natchez and Adams County.

“I’m well aware of how a board works,” Bunch said. “… The superintendent is the person that drives the management of the school system while the board sets policy. I want to bring my expertise to help set that policy.”

Bunch said she had not been privy enough to the things that the NASD board had seen to recommend any changes yet. However, Bunch said she is aware of some of the positive things that the district has done.

“What I find positive about our school system now is the Natchez Early College Academy,” Bunch said. “I’ve taught a lot of the teachers that teach there now, and they tell me what is going on — and I trust those teachers tell me the truth. … Teachers talk and what they tell me is good.”