001So, I've been on the school board for 2 years now. There's certain topics that are kind of above my pay grade and they don't fully understand, but some of them like I get really into and I'm like asking questions and I'm like feel like I'm part of the discussion with the rest of the school board. And a lot of times when it's something that very directly relates to the students, they will ask us for feedback. And that's just really powerful to me that we have the opportunity to give that student experience to the school board that's making these decisions that's affecting us. And it's just pretty incredible that we get to share that student voice. >> board members are very caring and they listen to all of our opinions. I think especially with the cell
002phone policy has been the biggest one. We've had a big influence on like the student voices on what's been happening with the cell phone policy. So, we're always telling the board how we feel about the policy. We've helped give them some We've brainstormed a few solutions. We've kind of just tried to keep it the same as it has been the previous years and all other districts are doing something different. >> When I first joined, I would have never guessed that I was going to end up in New Orleans with the with the National School Board Association and the opportunities that came to work with OSBA to make that possible with us definitely one of the big surprises that came out of that. But not only that, I just um more than anything just seeing how
003a school board works was surprising. Actually seeing how much they actually care about your opinion um contrary to what many believe student opinions to be kind of irrelevant. That is not the case at all. >> It's definitely not too big for anyone. Um they're really looking for different types of students from throughout our school. There's not a specific group. They're not looking for just leadership students or just the athletic students. Like, they're really looking for students from different parts of our school that are involved in different ways to hear their voices. I think even if you're not like an outgoing or energetic student, even if you're like a not an AP student, it doesn't mean you can't be on the school board. Really, anybody can be on the board. The board is looking for to
004voice as many opinions as possible. So, even if you think that you're not one of the people that are fit to be on the board, trust me, you are probably very fit to be on the board because they're looking for the most like variety in opinions and student voices they can get. So, the more people that apply, even if you don't think you're qualified, the better the board can be. I don't think that anything unqualifies you from being a student board rep because the only qualification is to be a student. And if you are a student, then and you have opinions about the school system that you attend and you care about making a change to the place you spend most of the time most of your day in, then I would highly encourage you
005to because I know that you have a valuable opinion that you can share. So, don't be discouraged. Definitely go out and give your opinions. Give um give your best shot at running for student board rep because you'll never see you'll you'll never know what opportunities may come from it or how much of an impact your voice actually can really make.